The Heart of an Author
by Oroboro2
Summary: Mystery. Love. Magic. Murder. Truth. These are all important elements in the murder mystery Fluttershy has written, and is now asking Twilight to read. But to her unease, the novel stars 'Twilight Sparkle'. Twilight must do her best to solve the mystery, reconcile her own feelings about this ordeal, and figure out just what Fluttershy is trying to say by writing all of this.
1. Prologue

Twilight Sparkle stared up at the bookshelf before her, and wondered if she should get the book she wanted using her magic or her wings. Spike was off helping Rarity with something today and she didn't have any duties as a Princess to worry about at the moment, so it seemed like as good of a day as any to simply curl up and read a nice book.

After a few more moments of pondering, Twilight settled on just pulling the book down with magic. She could use the practice, but if she messed up with her wings, she'd have to spend time cleaning that was better spent reading. Slightly pleased with herself at avoiding a potential disaster, Twilight trotted over to her favorite reading cushion, ready to settle in for the day.

As these things tend to go, right as Twilight began to get comfortable, she was interrupted by a soft knocking at her door.

_Well, I guess I really shouldn't be too surprised, _thought Twilight as she let out a light sigh, and then smiled anyway despite her disappointment. She put her book to the side and headed over to the door. Opening it, she found Fluttershy standing there, fidgeting nervously and carrying a satchel draped over her flanks.

"Fluttershy! I haven't seen you around in awhile, how have you been?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, um. Hi Twilight. I've been… good. And um, busy I guess. This isn't a bad time, is it? I know you have a lot of important things to do now, and I wouldn't want to interrupt anything," said Fluttershy.

Twilight took one last look back at her abandoned book knowing that she probably wouldn't be getting any reading in today, and then turned back to her friend. "Not at all Fluttershy, come right in," said Twilight. There would always be other days.

Closing the door behind her as Fluttershy walked in, Twilight turned towards the kitchen. "Would you like anything?" Twilight asked. "Tea? Maybe some cookies or something? Spike isn't in right now, but he made some pretty nice cookies the other day. They're still relatively fresh."

"Oh, that won't be necessary Twilight, I just…" Fluttershy muttered, staring at her hooves and fidgeting slightly, then pausing and nodding to herself before looking back up. "I mean, I guess that would be nice."

Beaming, Twilight made her way to the kitchen in order to get some refreshments for her unexpected guest. Fluttershy took the time to unhook her satchel and lay it on the floor next to her before standing around somewhat awkwardly waiting for Twilight to get back. She alternated between staring at the floor and glancing around at the various books in the library. After some time, Twilight returned with the promised snacks and the two of them sat down at a table.

"Mmm, these are quite good, Twilight. Thank you," said Fluttershy, washing down one of the cookies with a sip of tea.

"Aren't they? The tea is a special blend I bought in Canterlot the last time I was at the palace, but I haven't really found many occasions to bring it out. A bit pricey, but definitely worth it. Although the shopkeeper tried to give it to me for free on account of, well, you know." Twilight emphasized her point by stretching her wings slightly, a sour expression on her face. "I practically had to order him to let me pay full price."

"I see... That, um, must be difficult to get used to," said Fluttershy.

"Yeah, I'm still working on it," said Twilight. "But enough about my griping - what brings you here, Fluttershy? You seem troubled."

Fluttershy coughed, choking on her tea slightly. "Oh, excuse me. Um, was I that obvious?"

Twilight smiled, giggling slightly as Fluttershy wiped her mouth with a napkin. "You're like an open book, Fluttershy - I haven't seen you in three weeks, you come directly here, and you're super nervous? Tell me what's up, and I'll do what I can to help."

Fluttershy deflated slightly, looking up at Twilight with a small flicker of hope in her eyes. "Oh. Thank you… you're a good friend, Twilight. I just… wanted to ask you a favor, if that's okay."

Twilight simply nodded in response, and Fluttershy closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Do you remember when you lent me that mystery novel a while back?" asked Fluttershy.

Twilight blinked, caught somewhat off guard. "Yes? That was the first volume of the "Mystery Mares" series, right? Did you like it?"

"Oh yes, I loved it. I mean, in perspective it's really more of a beginner series for fillies, but I still read them all," said Fluttershy, perking up a she launched into a longer explanation. "After I finished that one, I looked for similar stories and found a lot of the old mystery classics, and even a few modern, experimental types of mystery fiction. I've, um, been doing a lot of reading lately."

Twilight frowned as she considered her friend's newfound interest. "I guess that explains what you've been up to… but if you were reading all these books, how come I didn't see you here at the library?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, I came by a lot, but you were never in. Spike helped me get some of them and I special ordered the rest," said Fluttershy.

"I see," said Twilight, bringing a hoof to her chin. "Honestly I recommended you that book totally at random – I had no idea you'd enjoy the genre so much! But I'm glad you did. So, what's the favor you need?"

Fluttershy looked away again, before standing up and making her way to the satchel she had left by the door. "Well, um, you see. After reading all those mystery novels, I kind of started to get an idea in my head. I wanted to really do something, but I didn't think I could. Then one night I had a really inspirational dream, and all my ideas came together and I was determined enough to just go for it," said Fluttershy, rambling on as she brought the satchel to the table. Opening the bag, she pulled out a small book and placed it on the table between her and Twilight.

"Could you um, read this and tell me what you think?" asked Fluttershy, ducking her head and peeking out from behind her bangs.

"This is…" Twilight frowned, placing her hoof on the book in front of her. "Wait – Fluttershy, are you saying you _wrote_ this?" When Fluttershy nodded meekly, Twilight let out a low whistle. "That's amazing! And in such a short time…"

Twilight levitated the book with her magic, casually flipping through the pages and noting Fluttershy's neat, nearly perfect calligraphy. "Sure, I'd be happy to read this for you. But, can you tell me exactly what you're looking for? Do you want constructive criticism and a technical critique? Or do you just want me to read through and tell you what I think?" asked Twilight.

"Oh. Well, I was mostly hoping you could read it and solve the mystery. But um, I guess the other stuff would be nice too," said Fluttershy, staring at Twilight expectantly.

"Oh. Did you want me to read it _now_?" asked Twilight. When Fluttershy nodded in response, Twilight glanced back at the book she had originally planned to read, smiling wryly. "No problem then. I _guess_ I can set aside time today for reading."

Twilight got up from the table and moved to her reading cushions, settling in to get comfortable for the second time that day. "Did you want me to read it out loud? Hearing it said back to you can be helpful for evaluating your own writing, I think," said Twilight.

"Oh. Yes, that would be lovely," said Fluttershy, grabbing a cushion of her own and pulling it up next to Twilight.

Twilight cleared her throat before opening Fluttershy's book to the first page, and began. "Princess Twilight Sparkle…"

Twilight blinked, staring at the words on the page in front of her in confusion, and then quickly skimmed the rest of the page to confirm what she saw. "Uh, Fluttershy? Am I the main character in your story?" asked Twilight, a note of apprehension in her voice.

Fluttershy blushed in response and tried to explain the distinction. "Yes. Well, sort of, not really. I mean, the _character_ is Twilight Sparkle, and she looks like you and I tried to make her act like you, but you're you, and that Twilight is just a fictional character." Fluttershy paused, taking a breath before mumbling, "They say you're supposed to write what you know…"

Frowning, Twilight skimmed through the book again, looking for familiar names that jumped out to her. "The rest of our friends are in here too?" asked Twilight.

Fluttershy nodded, hanging her head. "It's probably weird, isn't it? I'm sorry Twilight; this was all a silly idea. Forget I ever said anything."

Fluttershy jumped up to try and grab the book, but Twilight pulled it away. "Not so fast. You are right though. It _IS_ kind of strange, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Sure, it'll take me some time to get used to it, but it'll be a unique experience. I've certainly never read a novel starring me before!" said Twilight, smiling as she tried to reassure Fluttershy.

Fluttershy paced back and forth, furrowing and unfurrowing her brow before finally acquiescing and settling back down next to Twilight. "Okay, if you're sure it's not a problem," she said.

Once again Twilight pulled the book back in front of her, pausing to glance at the cover. "Does this story have a name? I don't see one here."

"Oh, right," said Fluttershy. "I wasn't able to get the cover engraved or anything, but the title of the story is-"

"The Legend of Dragon-Mare Manor"


	2. Chapter 1: Reunions

Princess Twilight Sparkle stared into the small mirror she held before her and was not particularly pleased with what she saw. It had been five years now since her coronation and the deep bags under her eyes were a testament to the toils and responsibilities of being a princess. Any day now she feared she would have to start plucking gray hairs out of her mane.

Twilight's musing was interrupted when a large jolt sent her flying upwards, her head bouncing off the roof of the carriage. The shock nearly caused her to drop the small mirror, but she managed to grab it again with magic before the fragile glass hit the floor. Grumbling as she held a hoof to her smarting head, she opened up the window, poking her head out into the freezing air.

"Sorry about that, your highness!" one of the transport ponies called out through the rushing wind. "Expect a bit more turbulence up ahead! There are some nasty storms in the area! We're ahead of them, but don't expect us to take off again anytime soon once we get there!"

Twilight frowned, closing the window and cutting off the blast of chilled air. _Not 'Transport ponies'. They had names._ She had promised herself she would try to remember them more often_. "Steel Wind", and… "Razor Wind"._ That was right; she had worked with them before. They were brothers, dependable as you can get when it came to long distance transport, but had a knack for causing trouble off the clock. It was getting so hard to keep track of it all…

Twilight let out a deep sigh, and stared out the window, slipping her mirror back into one of her bags. The silhouettes of the approaching mountain range seemed almost ominous as they slowly grew closer, like the waiting maw of a gigantic beast. An unnecessarily dark setting for the 'Princess Conference' she was about to attend.

Disregarding how important it was for the four princesses to meet at least once a year and discuss all manners of politics and plans for Equestria's future, Twilight was looking forward to this trip for another reason. These gatherings were also a reunion for her and all of her friends.

Made an "official tradition" by Pinkie Pie three years earlier, it served as a chance for all of them to get together. Ambition, dreams and responsibility had unfortunately scattered the six friends across Equestria. Twilight made sure to keep in touch of course, but only on a yearly basis like this could everypony's schedules all match up at the same time. Her heart fluttered with the anticipation of seeing everypony after what felt like far too long.

Twilight braced herself as the carriage shook again, before steadying into a gradual decline as it passed below the cloud cover. Her destination slowly came to view below her – a large mansion nestled in a valley between the peaks of three of the largest mountains. The grounds were blanketed with snow, but even from here she could see that behind the mansion there was a large patch of green, perhaps a garden of some sort.

With a smooth landing on a shoveled out runway, Twilight exited the carriage, wobbling slightly after having been being cooped up for so long. Grabbing her bags from inside with magic, she turned to see Razor and Steel already unhooking each other from the carriage, glancing up uneasily at the storm.

Twilight pulled herself up into her regal demeanor, and nodded her head slightly to the two brothers. "Thank you very much for your service, Steel and Razor Wind. You've done an excellent job - especially with the weather the way it is. You are both dismissed, and can leave at your will – though I ask that you use your best judgment as to whether or not it's still safe to fly back."

Both brothers blushed, pawing at the ground and turning away slightly. "Thank'ya very much Yer Highness. We were just doing our jobs, that's all. But by the looks of things we might be stuck here for the duration. Sorry if we're intruding on your conference and all," said the slightly larger, grayish stallion who Twilight was _mostly_ sure was Steel Wind.

"Here, lemme get that for you!" a voice called out from somewhere up above, echoing across the valley. After a slight pause and rushing of wind, there was a massive explosion of rainbow colored light and a thundering boom, blasting away the clouds and revealing the sun framing Rainbow Dash as she raced back towards the ground.

Even as the Sonic Rainboom began to fade away, Twilight could already see the storm clouds creeping back in. "Well, there's your chance. Better take it while you can," said Twilight. Bowing one more time, the two brothers took off into the clear sky, leaving the carriage behind. Weather permitting, they would return in a few days when the conference was over.

"I'm telling you Twi, these storms have a mind of their own. I've been out here for a week now busting them up, to keep this place from being drowned in snow, but they just keep coming back. The one out there now I think is the big one they've all been building up to, and I don't think I can hold it back much longer," said Rainbow Dash, coming to a graceful landing next to Twilight and pulling up the goggles on her flight suit.

"I hope it can last a little bit longer," said Twilight. "My brother and sister aren't supposed to arrive till tomorrow. Whose idea was it to hold the conference here anyway?"

"Fluttershy's, I think," said Rainbow Dash. "Something about the garden and the history. She really loves it here; she's been working as caretaker for months now. This place IS pretty cool, even if the location leaves a bit to be desired."

"I see," said Twilight.

The two friends stared at each other for a moment in awkward silence, before they both burst out laughing.

"It's good to see you Dash," said Twilight, wrapping her forehooves around her friend in a tight hug.

"You too, Twi," said Rainbow Dash, who returned the hug with an ear splitting grin.

After a few more moments, Rainbow Dash pulled away from the embrace, glancing back up at the sky. "I've got some more clouds to go bust; we can catch up more later on. Just go on inside, the others are all here already. Later!" shouted Rainbow Dash before she took off again, getting back to work.

Twilight made her way to the front porch, pausing for a moment to admire the intricate woodwork on the set of wide double doors. As she pushed them open, she was greeted by a blast of warm air and a flood of soft lights inviting her inside.

"Welcome to Dragon-mare manor. I hope you enjoy your stay." A soft voice greeted Twilight as she stepped inside, and she almost shifted her mannerisms back into 'Princess Mode' when she realized the formal greeting had come from Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!" said Twlight, caught somewhat off guard. "Um… that dress looks lovely on you."

"Oh, thank you very much. Rarity made this for me. I really like it," said Fluttershy, preening slightly at the complement. Her gown resembled something you'd expect to see on a palace servant, but it was far more elaborate and well designed, along with a purple and gold trim similar to that which adorned the mansion.

"Would you like me to take your scarf?" asked Fluttershy, bowing her head slightly and extending a forehoof.

"Thank you, but come on. What are you doing Fluttershy? You don't have to serve me," said Twilight, letting her bags float down to the floor and taking off her scarf.

"Oh. But I'm um, working as the caretaker here right now. And I've been taking my job very seriously, and that includes looking after all of the guests and making sure they're comfortable," said Fluttershy.

Twilight chuckled, smiling and shaking her head at the earnest sincerity in her friends tone. "Alright, if you insist." Twilight floated her scarf up for Fluttershy to take, but as soon as she had a decent grip on it, Twilight yanked back, granting her a startled "Eep!" as Twilight pulled Fluttershy into a surprise hug.

"It's good to see you though. And don't you dare play servant during this entire trip! All of us deserve some time to relax, you hear me?" scolded Twilight. She pulled back from the hug and bopped Fluttershy on the nose playfully as Fluttershy began to blush and turn away, her mouth working soundlessly.

"Are Princess Celestia and Luna here already?" asked Twilight, her question snapping Fluttershy out of her stupor.

"Oh, um, yes. They got here this morning, but they're both pretty tired from the journey, so they don't want be disturbed until tomorrow."

Twilight nodded, frowning. It would've been nice to get some personal time with the two, but oh well. "So, where's my room?"

"It's um, upstairs and to the left," said Fluttershy, pointing up the set of wide stairs in the middle of the entrance hall. "Third door on the right. It's marked as yours, so, um... Just let me hang this up, I'll show-"

Fluttershy was interrupted by the sound of two sets of hooves from above, followed by harsh voices.

"Dangit! Y'just don't get it, do ya? Yer completely missing the point, as always!" Applejack skidded into view at the top of the stairs, looking frazzled as she wheeled around to face her pursuer.

"Applejack, sweetie," said Rarity as she trotted into view, drawing out her words as if she was admonishing a child. "Come on now. Be reasonable! I love your apples – I do! But just because I love them doesn't mean I want them _all _the time. A girl needs a little variety!"

Applejack snorted, stomping her hoof down so hard the chandeliers shook slightly. "Of course y'do," Applejack snarled through gritted teeth. "And just what the hay am I supposed to do when you up and decide that you're bored of—"

"Twilight, darling!" squealed Rarity as she noticed Twilight, immediately breaking off from her fight to dash down the stairs and hug her friend. "Oh, I don't mean to be rude but are you getting enough sleep? You look positively dreadful. But not to worry – Even if you do have that big meeting tomorrow, make sure you get plenty of rest and relaxation, okay?"

"Uh, thanks Rarity. I'll do my best," said Twilight with a note of concern in her voice as she pulled away from the hug. "Are you two fighting about something? Is everything okay?

"Nah, it's nothin' to worry about Twi. We were just havin' a bit of a disagreement," said Applejack as she made her way down the stairs, her earlier anger evaporated. "If y'really wanna know, we can talk about it later. But Rarity's right, you should really be taking better care of yourself."

Twilight frowned, but shrugged and decided to let it go, giving Applejack a quick hug. "I'll hold you to that, Applejack. But it's good to see you too."

"Right, well. Fluttershy, can y'help me in the kitchen with some things? There's still some stuff I wanna get ready for dinner," asked Applejack.

"Um, sure. But I have to show Twilight to her room first," said Fluttershy.

"No, that's fine, go with her. I should be able to find it myself pretty easily," said Twilight.

Nodding, Applejack and Fluttershy went off, presumably towards the kitchens, leaving Twilight and Rarity alone in the entrance hall. Rarity looked over at Twilight and nodded her head in the direction of the stairs, and two ascended together.

"What on earth is that?" asked Twilight, stopping once she reached the last step and looked up.

"Oh, that ghastly thing? That is the… _namesake_ of this manor. Or at least an artist's interpretation of her. I don't really like it, but Dash seems to think it's the coolest thing she's ever seen, and Fluttershy practically worships her for some reason," said Rarity, scrunching her face up.

Adorning the wall at the top of the stairs, looking down at all who entered the mansion was a massive portrait of what, at first glance appeared to be a magnificent golden alicorn with a short purple mane. Except for the scaled, leather wings, the line of spikes running down her back all the way into a coiled dragon's tail, and her somewhat bestial features she could be easily confused for a relative of Princess Celestia.

"So she's why they call it "Dragon-Mare" manor, huh? I didn't think it was such a literal title," mused Twilight, conjuring a ball of light to illuminate the painting a little better. "Why does she look so sad?"

Rarity frowned, looking at the painting a little closer herself. "I'm not really sure darling. There's a big legend associated with it and all, but I can't say I've really paid much attention. There's a plaque here, but it doesn't really explain anything, per say."

Twilight moved the ball of light lower and inspected the plaque Rarity had pointed out before beginning to read out loud.

"From a wish sprouts a seed of power

To grant your hearts deepest desire

Bless this seed with your greatest love

But this love must be born in blood

In death lies truth – the heart laid bare

No sacrifice too great

Abandon self

Rend asunder, and begin anew."

Twilight blinked, quickly reading over the passage again. "Well that… certainly is morbid."

"That it most certainly is. I swear, I can feel her eyes following me every time I walk past this staircase," said Rarity, shuddering visibly. "Anyway Twilight, our rooms are in opposite directions. Third door on your right, I believe. I've got some things I'm working on at the moment, so I'll probably see you at dinner. Ciao!"

Twilight nodded and waved as Rarity trotted off down the right hallway. Instead of leaving immediately, she stayed to gaze on the painting a bit more. Just who was this Dragon-Mare? She was familiar with many old pony-tales, but this one had apparently slipped past her notice.

Well, it was clear that she'd have to ask Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash about it later. It was also pretty likely that there was a library somewhere in the mansion where she might be able to find out even more.

Filing that riddle away to tackle later, Twilight made her way down the left hallway, quickly coming to a door emblazoned with her own cutie mark. This was obviously it. As she reached out to open the door, Twilight hesitated. There was one friend she hadn't run into yet…

Grinning mischievously, Twilight backed against the wall to side of the door, and swung it open with magic.

"SURPRISE!" screamed Pinkie Pie as she burst from the room in a corona of confetti and streamers, fired straight from her party cannon and crashed directly into the wall.

"Huh? Twlight? Where'd you go?" asked Pinkie Pie, wobbling as she tried to stand and somewhat distracted by the stars circling her head. "Wait! Oh no, I knew I shouldn't have set my party cannon on maximum - I must've hit her so hard she's all partied out!"

Unable to suppress her giggles, Twilight leapt forward, tackling Pinkie Pie and calling out "Surprise!" before she could fully regain her bearings. Both mares collapsed onto the ground, rolling around in gales of laughter.

Pinkie Pie bounced to her feet as the two regained their breath, and began jumping around Twilight. "Wow, you sure got me there! I had a big surprise planned for you and everything; I was going yell SURPRISE and then fire myself out of the party cannon to give you a surprise party hug but then you gave ME the surprise party hug!"

"How about just a regular hug to finish it off then?" asked Twilight as she embraced Pinkie Pie again.

"Ooh, those are nice too!"

* * *

Twilight stood up as she reached the chapter break, stretching her legs and wings. Her throat was starting to get a bit sore from reading out loud – she could use a glass of water, but she also remembered there was a spell to strengthen vocal cords for long bouts of oratory.

"This is very interesting, Fluttershy! I'm enjoying it a lot. I tend to get pretty immersed in stories when I read anyway, but this feels like I'm really there as part of the story," said Twilight.

Fluttershy had a glazed look in her eyes, completely lost in the telling of her own writing.

At Twilight's address, Fluttershy snapped back to attention. "Oh. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far."

"Well, we've got a cast, a location, a closed circle, and a dark legend. Seems ripe for a mystery to me! I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out," said Twilight, giving an earnest smile. Although quite frankly, Fluttershy's vision of the future was a little off-putting.

"Just one question though. I know it's in a hypothetical future and all, but how come Spike isn't with me?" asked Twilight.

"…"

Fluttershy froze. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open as the color drained from her face.

"Uh, Fluttershy? Are you okay?"

"Ohmygosh," blurted out Fluttershy as she dived forward, grabbing her book and flipping through it rapidly. "No no no, oh no I'm so sorry Twlight. I can't believe I would do something like this!"

"Do what, exactly?" asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow.

Fluttershy drooped, sinking low onto the floor and covered her face with her hooves. "I um. I guess I must've gotten so caught up in the story I wanted to tell about the six of us that I… forgot to put Spike in the story entirely."

Twilight blinked a few times, staring down at her friend before bursting into laughter.

"Oh please please please don't ever tell Spike this; he would be so hurt. Oh, how could I do something like this? I'll um, go back and add a line near the beginning about how he's sick with the flu and couldn't make the trip," bemoaned Fluttershy, trying to hide her head under a nearby pillow.

Twilight lent a hoof to Fluttershy to help her up, and to offer some comfort. "Hey, it's fine. We won't tell Spike. Although really?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You forgot about him even with all this stuff about 'Dragon-Mares'?"

Fluttershy nodded meekly and Twilight took the book and found her place again. "Give me a few minutes to get some water and cast a spell and we'll keep going, okay? Who knows, maybe Spike wouldn't be interested in this kind of mystery anyway, and he'd be glad he stayed home."

* * *

*V*

Twilight Sparkle rolled over in her bed, yawning and blinking tired eyes. Frowning as she tried to remember where exactly she was, Twilight got up slowly and made her way over to a nearby window. Only pitch blackness and a howling blizzard greeted her from the outside world.

"I guess I dozed off earlier… I'm sure someone would've woken me up if it was time for dinner, so I probably haven't missed anything yet," said Twilight, talking to herself as she let out another yawn. Even though she hadn't planned on napping, she felt a lot more refreshed and comfortable and was glad she had.

After taking a few more moments to stretch and finish waking up, Twilight poked her head out into the hallway. Now that the world outside was covered in the deep dark of winter, the hallways were illuminated by soft and flickering lamplight, casting every corner with eerie shadows.

As Twilight made her way back towards the entrance hall, past the painting and down the stairs, she remembered Rarity's words from earlier. A chill ran up Twilight's spine and she quickened her pace slightly to escape that strange feeling of being watched.

When she was standing at the base of the stairs in the entrance hall again, Twilight paused, looking around at the various hallways and doors that all extended from this central hub. "Where did everypony go, I wonder…" asked Twilight out loud.

Before she could make a decision on which direction to start exploring, Twilight jumped as the front doors burst open with a resounding bang when a pony sized snowball crashed through them, the blizzard outside taking the opportunity to enter uninvited.

After realizing what was happening, Twilight smiled wryly at the snowball, which had a rainbow colored mane poking out the top of it. As Twilight made to close the doors with her magic, Rainbow Dash burst from the snowball, scattering snow everywhere as she shook herself off violently.

"I give up. You win this time, blizzard," said Rainbow Dash, her teeth chattering.

"Is it really that bad out there?" asked Twilight, giggling slightly at the state of her friend.

"Oh! Hey again. Yeah, it's pretty rough. There's nothing more I can do out there," said Rainbow Dash as she shook more snow out of her ears.

Frowning, Twilight glanced at the door. "Do you think my brother and sister will be able to make it tomorrow?" It wouldn't be the end of the world if the conference was delayed by a day or two, but everypony did have their own schedules to worry about.

"I don't think even a dragon could fly for long in this weather," said Rainbow Dash, grinning. "But hey, that just means a longer vacation for us before all that important junk happens, right?"

"Well, that's certainly one way of looking at it," said Twilight, returning Rainbow's grin.

"Man, I'm starving. Is dinner ready yet?" asked Rainbow Dash, changing the subject.

Twilight frowned, looking back around at the various doors. "Dunno. I just woke up from a nap. I'm not even sure where the kitchen is, to be honest."

Rainbow Dash laughed as she clapped Twilight on the shoulder playfully. "Geez Twilight – I've been outside busting my feathers and you're in here napping? Sure sounds great being a princess. Come on, the kitchen's this way."

Twilight crouched playfully, spreading her wings and lighting her horn with a quick burst of magic. "Better be careful Rainbow – I'm pretty sure an Alicorn Princess could do your job with little effort!"

"You? A weatherpony? Pleaase. You wouldn't last a day out there. I bet I could do your job way easier than you could do mine." Rainbow Dash paused, looking back as she opened a door to the lower left of the stairs. "You coming or what?"

"Princess Rainbow Dash. I'd like to see that!" giggled Twilight as she teleported into the hallway Rainbow Dash was making her way down, coming out in a gallop as she wordlessly challenged her friend to a race.

Rainbow Dash was faster of course, in addition to actually knowing where she was going, and quickly zoomed through the hallways trying to leave Twilight behind. She was able to keep up however, mostly by cheating teleporting ahead whenever she had the chance.

Fluttershy squeaked as the two mares burst into the kitchen at the same time, collapsing to the floor as they rolled around with laughter.

"Hey, come on Twi, that's against the rules!" giggled Rainbow Dash in between breaths.

"Who said there were any rules?" countered Twilight, standing up and wiping a tear from her eye.

Turning to Fluttershy, she said "Hey. Sorry if we're intruding Fluttershy. Maybe we got a little carried away there."

"Oh no, it's okay. Um, dinner's not quite ready yet if that's what you were wondering. But it should be soon."

Nodding as she glanced over the kitchen, Twilight was struck by a sudden twinge of melancholy. If only fun like this wasn't such a rare occasion nowadays.

"Argh! I'm sooooo hungry Fluttershy. Come on, give me a little taste! Pleaaase?" begged Rainbow Dash, hovering over to the food Fluttershy was preparing like a persistent fly.

Fluttershy huffed up, and waggled a spoon at Rainbow Dash threateningly. "No. You'll have to wait for it just like everypony else. It tastes much better that way."

Grumbling, Rainbow Dash flew out of the room and around the corner, mild curses echoing down the hallway. "It does smell really good Fluttershy. You must have worked hard," said Twilight.

"You don't get any either, Twilight. Even if it is you," said Fluttershy before turning back to the pot she was stirring. "But um. Thank you."

Smiling, Twilight stood in the kitchen in silence for a few moments, watching Fluttershy cook before she spoke up again. "Um, Twilight… I hope you don't mind me asking or anything, but you seem a little down and I was just wondering if everything is okay?"

Twilight sighed and shook her head; smiling at the fact Fluttershy was able to pick up on her mood. "It's nothing, really. I just… miss you guys a lot. It's so great to see you all like this… but I miss the times when this kind of a thing happened every day, you know?"

Fluttershy made a quiet sound of acknowledgement as Twilight shared her feelings, but stayed focused on her work for awhile before she put her spoon down and turned around to face Twilight. "Um. Do you remember the conference last year?"

Twilight frowned, raising a hoof to her chin. "Down on the rainbow beaches of Mareami? That sure was a great party. Why do you ask?"

"It was such a beautiful place, and I'd love to visit again. But Pinkie insisted we try somewhere new every year so it would leave a lasting impression each time," said Fluttershy, her eyes focused with uncharacteristic determination.

"Pinkie Pie certainly knows her parties," noted Twilight, thinking back. "That's right… you drew the short straw, so you got to pick and plan the next event. So you chose here then?"

"Yes. I mean, um, well…" Fluttershy faltered, looking down and fidgeting slightly. "I m-miss you too Twilight, but um. I'm working as hard as I can because… I want us all to create memories we can cherish forever. Even when we can't be together."

Twilight stared at Fluttershy, considering the blushing mare's situation. Dreams and ambition had pulled them all farther apart than any of them truly wished. Rainbow Dash had become a champion flier and fulfilled her dream of joining the Wonderbolts. Rarity was a world renowned fashion designer and had exclusive contracts in major cities all over Equestria. Applejack had found herself the manager of dozens of farms after Flim and Flam had returned one year, promising increased production, storage, bottling, and distribution for a much more reasonable price. And Pinkie Pie was well… Pinkie Pie. But Fluttershy?

For all Twilight knew, Fluttershy's dreams were never lofty or ambitious. She still lived in her cottage, tending to her animals, her closest friends only stopping by to visit when they could make the time. So if she had been here for several months already, working hard to make everything perfect…

Twilight's heart leapt for her friend, and she trotted over to place a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm sure this will be the best conference ever. But as long as we're all together, it's all worth it in the end."

Fluttershy turned a deep crimson and crouched behind her mane, her mouth working soundlessly. "Th-thanks. I'll um, do my best," she managed to squeak after a long pause.

Twilight grinned wryly as she decided to snap Fluttershy out of her embarrassment with a simple observation. "Your pot is boiling over."

With an adorable yelp, Fluttershy spun around, nearly tripping over her own hooves as she spun around and clamored for the spoon. Laughing, Twilight levitated another spoon down from the shelf and helped get the pot under control.

"Here, let me help out a bit."


	3. Chapter 2: A Seed of Love

The feast laid out before Twilight could really only be described as a work of art. Fancy salads, elaborate soup dishes, beautiful floral arrangements, all manner of apple related dishes, and topped off with a giant cake in the center of the table. It was all meticulously crafted and arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner; complete with elaborate doilies, coasters, and tablecloth which Twilight could only assume was hand crafted by the beaming unicorn across the table.

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" screamed Pinkie Pie as the room around them exploded in a shower of confetti and streamers. Twilight flinched instinctively, and almost fired up her horn in an attempt to protect her meal but quickly noticed that none of the paper bits were falling over the table.

_Even that is carefully designed, _thought Twilight before she began to laugh when Pinkie immediately devoured half the cake. While she was used to such elaborate care and extravagant meals by now, nothing could beat a meal shared with friends, whether fancy or humble.

As everypony began to dig in around the table, various conversations and bits of small talk sprung up. Distracted by a particularly delicious apple salad, Twilight decided to just listen for awhile instead of joining in.

"Um. Your mane looks really pretty Applejack. You should get it done up more often," said Fluttershy.

"Oh. Uh, y'think so? Er, I mean, thanks sugarcube," said Applejack, blushing and glancing over at Rarity who nodded reassuringly before continuing. "It's uh, y'know. A special occasion and all. Do you think the princesses will be joining us?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, they asked to have dinner delivered to their room."

Frowning, Twilight ran a hoof through her own mane, considering the state of it and feeling slightly confused. Everypony seemed to be taking this way more seriously than she was. Dressing up, making food, elaborate decorations... she just wasn't sure what warranted all this effort and formality.

"Oooh, Twilight!" Pinkie pie interjected, snapping Twilight to attention."Do you remember a couple months ago when I was throwing that party in Canterlot and you were there too attending a royal ball of some kind? I don't remember what for but I do remember that it was super boring. Then you stopped by my party for a bit but couldn't stay long and it was kind of sad. Anyway after you left there were bunches of reaaaly hilarious coincidences, with those two noble-ponies who got into the wrong party and then when that drink accidentally got spilled on Vinyl Scratch's equipment and then somepony used somepony else's wig to put out the fire! And then it got even funnier when…"

As Pinkie rambled on with her story, Twilight continued to smile and nod. _Well, not everypony is taking this too seriously…_

As the dinner wound on, Twilight indulged herself in another salad, a couple of apple fritters and dumplings, and a slice of (what was left of the) cake before she was finally stuffed. As she poured herself another glass of water, she noticed Applejack and Rarity were leaning in next to each other, and seemed to be having a hushed conversation. Feeling nosy, Twilight decided to get a little closer and listen in.

"… C'mon now Rar', I thought we discussed this already. Yer the one who's good at flowery speeches and declarations of love. I seen you practicin' in the mirror already," said Applejack.

"Oh but that's just it… although I'm loathe to admit it, quite frankly I talk too much. What I have written sounds like an acceptance speech; everypony will be asleep before I get to the important part!" said Rarity as she reached over to hold Applejack's hooves with her own. "When you say it, it's always so… straight from the heart, and well, _honest_. And that's what I want."

Applejack's eyes darted nervously around the table, and Twilight quickly pretended to be interested in the floral arrangements, rather than eavesdropping on what was apparently an even more private conversation than she thought. "I just… I don't know how to say it," whispered Applejack fearfully.

"Just tell them the truth," said Rarity with a wink and smile, before she stood up and banged on the side of her glass with a spoon. "Attention everypony… Applejack and I have an announcement to make."

The room quieted down as Applejack stood up and looked around the room nervously and cleared her throat. Her hoof, Twilight noted, was still cupping Rarity's.

"Uh. Hey ya'll. It uh, sure is good to be here with all you again. It's, erm…" Applejacked paused, swallowing and fidgeting with her hat slightly. She turned to Rarity, who gave her an encouraging smile, and Applejack turned back to the table, a more determined look on her face.

"Ah, I'm no good at these. Look. Th'four of you are the greatest friends anypony could ask for. We've been through everything together, and now I wanna share this happiness with y'all too."

Applejack closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I… love Rarity. I have for a long time. Last year fate gave us a chance to discover those feelings were mutual. And I'm telling you this now because we've decided to spend the rest of our lives together."

The table was silent for a long moment, Rarity positively beaming at her fiancé.

"You guys are getting married!?" sputtered Rainbow Dash, spitting cider all over the table and quickly going into a coughing-

* * *

"Wait. What!?" cried out Twilight Sparkle as the implications of what she just read hit her.

Fluttershy snapped out of her listener's stupor, looking up at Twilight with concern. "Um. Is everything okay Twilight?"

Twilight stared at the words on the page in disbelief, and then glanced over at Fluttershy, then back to the page again before putting the book down. "Um, Fluttershy? Is there something about Rarity and Applejack you know that I don't?"

"What? Oh no, of course not. I mean, not that I know of anyway. This is all just fictional, Twilight," said Fluttershy, nodding as if she were explaining a simple concept.

Twilight worked her mouth soundlessly, trying to figure out a way to voice her objections without hurting Fluttershy's feelings. "Uh, Fluttershy, this is…" she stopped, raising a hoof and scratching her head in bewilderment.

Fluttershy picked up the book, and began flipping through some of the earlier pages. "Oh. Um, was the announcement too sudden? Maybe there should be more foreshadowing. I tried to slip some in the argument they had earlier, but it must have been too subtle to notice."

"That's… not really the problem here," said Twilight, covering her face with her hoof in exasperation.

"Oh," said Fluttershy, looking down at her book thoughtfully. "Well than maybe it's—"

Twilight cut her off with a raised hoof. "Look, Fluttershy. How do you think Applejack and Rarity would feel if they knew you were writing a story about them being in a relationship? What about if this ends up getting published?"

Fluttershy's eyes went wide, and she shook her head vigorously. "Oh no, I never want that to happen. I don't want anypony reading this. Except um, you…"

Twilight closed her eyes, bringing her hoof down on the table softly. "Okay, so you don't want this published and I won't tell them if you don't want me to… but why? Why Applejack and Rarity?"

"Oh. Well, um." Fluttershy blushed, smiling from behind her bangs. "I needed a romance sub plot in order to properly tell the story. And, well…" Fluttershy ducked low, her blush growing even deeper. "I've always thought those two would make a pretty cute couple."

Twilight bit her lower lip, glancing back at the book. This was… weird. Downright uncomfortable, even. Although it really was all just fictional (Or possibly not, she supposed), it somehow felt like an egregious invasion of her friends privacy.

Looking down at Fluttershy, who seemed lost in dreamland again, Twilight weighed her options. Whatever oddities she had written… and whatever surprises were still yet to come, it was clear that Fluttershy had poured her heart into her writing. It took a lot just to open up to Twilight about it, and the fragile pegasus was as delicate as ever. Surely she could get over an uncomfortable topic for the sake of her friend?

Nodding to herself, Twilight levitated the book back in front of her, causing Fluttershy to start before both mares got comfortable again. "Alright. Sorry about the interruption. I just wanted to clear some things up before continuing. "

As she searched for her place in the book, Twilight chuckled inwardly, composing a mental note.

"_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I know I don't write you these letters anymore, but if I did, something tells me by the end of this you'd have to read a particularly long one.._"

* * *

"You guys are getting married!?" sputtered Rainbow Dash, spitting cider all over the table and quickly going into a coughing fit. "That's… that's just…"

"Awesome!" squealed Fluttershy, just a hair louder than was typical for her as she clapped her hooves together. "Congratulations. Oh, I'm so happy for you."

Twilight caught Fluttershy winking at Rarity out of the corner of her eye. If anypony knew about this in advance, it probably would've been her.

Across from the table, Pinkie Pie's eyes had gone as wide as saucers, and she began vibrating at a rapidly increasing frequency. As she began to let out a high pitched squeal and inch closer to the couple, Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Pinkie Pie, would you be so kind as to plan our wedding reception?"

"YEEEEEEEESSSSS!" screamed Pinkie Pie as she shot off like a bottle rocket, bouncing off the ceiling and around the room like a super bouncy ball.

Even as she found herself chuckling at Pinkie's antics, Twilight tried to pull all her thoughts together quickly. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure how to feel about two of her best friends suddenly announcing their engagement to each other. Especially since she didn't even know they were a couple until now. But whatever her own feelings about the matter, being a good friend was the most important thing she could do at the moment.

"Congratulations you guys. This was sudden, but I'm really happy for you." Twilight stood up, making her way over to the couple and placing a hoof on theirs. "I'd like to give you my blessings as both a royal princess of Equestria," Twilight paused, giving them a warm smile, "and as your friend."

"Oh Twilight, thank you…" said Rarity, sniffling as her eyes beginning to mist over. "Ugh, you promised yourself you wouldn't cry. Get it together Rarity!"

Rainbow Dash flew over the table and up to Applejack, casually slinging a forehoof over her shoulder. "Geez. Congratulations! That's pretty great and all, but did you really have to keep it a secret for so long?"

Applejack blushed, turning away and looking slightly ashamed. "Aw hay. It's not like we were particularly tryin' to keep it a secret or anything. There was just… never really a good time to bring it up. And it was only last month when I proposed and she said yes that we felt like… we had something strong enough together to show off to th'rest of you and be proud of."

"Oooh, and such a gallant proposal it was," said Rarity with a dramatic flourish, causing Applejack to roll her eyes. "I'll have to tell you all about it later."

"GROUP HUG!" shouted Pinkie, pulling the other five ponies into a stranglehold of an embrace.

* * *

"It's um, right through here," said Fluttershy, fumbling with the keys to what was apparently the back door to the mansion.

"Alright, let's move this party to somewhere more fitting!" said Rainbow Dash.

As soon as Fluttershy pulled the door open a hair, the door banged open, hurling the dainty pegasus into Rainbow Dash with a blast of frozen air and whipping snow.

"How is this supposed to be better than inside? Where it's all warm and toasty?" asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow skeptically as she tried to shield her face from the wind. The pitch blackness outside wasn't helping matters either.

"Oh it's really quite nice out there darling, but I'm afraid we'll need your help to make it more… hospitable," said Rarity as she and Applejack helped the downed pegasi to their hooves. "Could you give us a little light out there for starters?"

Shivering from the cold, Twilight focused her horn, conjuring a large ball of light which she sent to float up and out the door. She was surprised to see so much green illuminated under the soft magic. It was garden worthy of the royal palace. There were beautiful trees, grass, flowers, shrubs, and several pools of water, all of it seemingly untouched by the snow whirling around them. With a tentative step forward, Twilight was surprised to find that the ground underneath her hooves was radiating warmth.

"CANNONBALL!" yelled Pinkie as she bolted outside and immediately made a big splash in one of the pools. Twilight's worries about her friend freezing to death in the water were quickly squashed when she took a closer look and saw the steam rising from the pools.

"So there's hot springs here. That's pretty nice – but even with that it won't be very nice out here with all this wind," said Twilight, squinting as a particularly large gust blew more snow into her eyes.

"Kinda hopin' you could take care of that too, Twi. Y'know, make a big shield or something," said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight thought about it for a moment, and figured it should probably work. Channeling a more powerful spell, she felt a bead of sweat drip down her face as large pink bubble began to descend over the entire mansion. After a few more moments of focus, Twilight felt the wind stop and everything suddenly became quiet around them.

As she let the spell go, Twilight wiped the sweat off her brow and paused to admire her handiwork. She wasn't her brother, but the shield would do its job keeping the storm out of the mansion. As well as anypony who wanted in or out. Although it was only strong to the point where anypony could probably break through if they tried hard enough, bringing the whole spell down with them.

With the wind cut off, Twilight could already feel the warmth of the garden starting to fill the area and she took a deep breath, enjoying the sweet smells of the flora and the dampness of the air.

"Hey Applejack, bet you can't beat me in underwater wrestling!" said Rainbow Dash with a grin, flying towards one of the nearby hot springs.

Applejack immediately jumped at the challenge, and Rarity rolled her eyes. "Really now. Hot springs are not swimming pools. They are for relaxing." With a sigh, she turned to Fluttershy and Twilight. "Care to join me?"

"Gladly," Twilight said with a smile, and the three of them moved to one of the unoccupied pools while the other three splashed and played.

"Oh sweet Celestia that feels good", moaned Twilight as she sunk into the hot water.

Immediately she felt her tired muscles begin to loosen - stiff shoulders and joints she had forgotten weren't supposed to feel like that in the first place.

After lounging in silence for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of laughter coming from nearby, Twilight turned to Rarity and spoke up. "So… you and Applejack, huh?"

Rarity smiled, leaning her head back as she stared skywards. "Life sure has a way of taking you by surprise, doesn't it?"

"Since you mentioned surprises, I take it you knew in advance, Fluttershy?" asked Twilight.

"Oh. I mean, um. I still go to the spa with Rarity occasionally, and I knew they were dating," Fluttershy mumbled, sinking into the water until her head was barely above it. "But I didn't know there was going to be a wedding. Oh, um, congratulations again."

Rarity laughed gaily, turning to face the others. "Speaking of that… would you two do me the honors of being my best mares? Applejack will ask Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to do the same for her." Rarity paused, glancing over as her fiancé held onto Rainbow Dash with her forehooves as she struggled to fly out of the water. "Well, I'm sure she'll bring it up eventually."

"Oh yes! Oh, I'd love to," said Fluttershy excitedly, nearly jumping up out of the water.

"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride," Twilight said teasingly. "But of course; I'd be honored Rarity."

"Great! Oh, I've already got the perfect dresses for you thought up; it's going to be so magical!" After beaming with excitement, Rarity frowned, tapping a hoof on the water in thought. "Well, I kind of also wanted you to officiate the wedding Twilight, but I'm not sure if you can do both…"

Twilight felt herself heat up with embarrassment at the idea. "Well, I mean I technically could, but Princess Celestia might be a better choice. I'm not sure you want somepony officiating your wedding while crying the whole time."

"Oh Twilight," giggled Rarity as she moved over to give the unicorn a quick embrace. "You're a good friend, you know?"

"I practically majored in friendship, so I'd certainly hope so," grinned Twilight. "But this is a big step. No matter what, we'll do our best to help you out." Fluttershy nodded in agreement as Rarity sat back down.

"A big step… you got that right." Rarity's smile waned somewhat as she peered into the water blankly. "We have to be apart from each other so much because of business, but we still both want to start a life together. It'll have to work somehow…" Glancing up, Rarity stared at the still frolicking Applejack with a strange look in her eye.

Twilight glanced over at Fluttershy, both of them frowning at the sudden change in mood. "Um, Rarity? Is everything okay?" asked Twilight.

"Hmm? Oh, no, it's nothing dear…" said Rarity, her expression a stiff mask.

"Does this have something to do with the fight you two were having when I arrived?" asked Twilight.

"What, that? Oh, that was nothing to worry about. Just a simple little spat about the food we plan to have at the wedding. Nothing to worry about," said Rarity, the strain in her voice becoming more evident.

"Rarity…" chided Twilight as she moved in closer.

Rarity's lips began to tremble, and she glanced up at her fiancé, who was still occupied and well out of earshot. "I just…" With a loud sniffle, tears began to fall from her eyes, barely noticeable with all the surrounding steam and water.

"I just love her so much!" Rarity cried out, burying her head in Fluttershy's shoulder. "I do! And I'm willing to give anything, my whole self; mind body and soul to her! But even though she's the one who started this… and she's the one who proposed…" Rarity sniffled again, wiping at her eyes with her hoof.

"She's holding something back… I can feel it. There's something in her heart she absolutely refuses to share, and refuses to even acknowledge it's there. Whatever is eating her up… it's gotten noticeable in other ways too."

"There there…" soothed Fluttershy as she lightly rubbed Rarity's shoulder with a hoof. "Have you tried talking to her about this? Surely with a pony as straightforward and dependable as Applejack you can just skip to the heart of the matter, can't you?"

"But that's just it!" Rarity wailed. "I've tried - She refuses to trust me enough even to admit there's a problem, and always tries to turn it back on me somehow whenever I bring it up."

Twilight frowned, considering her words carefully. This was going to take a delicate hoof, but she was unsure of her own ability to give the correct advice in matters of the heart.

"Are you sure whatever this secret is that it has to do with you? Everypony is entitled to keep a few things to themselves," said Twilight cautiously as she tried her best to gage Rarity's reaction.

Sniffling one more time, Rarity took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I'm sorry. Maybe you're right, Twilight. I can get a little wrapped up in myself sometimes. Perhaps I'm worrying over nothing. Glancing back over at the pony that was the source of her woe she wiped at her eyes some more. "But I don't know. I feel like it's important. I can just sense something is off some times, you know? There's a pained glance here, a disgusted facial expression there. Maybe a hostile reaction to an innocuous question. It's always so faint, but I _know_ it's real."

"Oh well," Rarity sighed. "Relationships aren't supposed to be easy, after all. I'm sure we can work this out eventually." Turning to the others, she put on a smile again. "Thanks for listening you two. I've been holding that in for awhile now, and it feels good to get that off my chest. "

"If you ever need to talk, we're here for you Rarity. Don't bottle it all in," said Twilight, leaning back and allowing herself to relax. Looking up at the sky from this angle, the patterns the snow made as it impacted with her shield and fell along the sides really were quite pretty.

Eager to change the mood, Rarity struck up a conversation regarding some of the recent fashion lines she had been working on in Manehatten, and while Fluttershy seemed interested, Twilight quickly tuned them out. Two of her best friends were getting married. Everything was going to change.

Or was it? With a sinking feeling in her gut, Twilight realized that their group dynamic would barely be shaken up at all. After all, if everypony only gets together once a year, the difference becomes pretty negligible.

So nothing was going to change after all. Well, maybe a little. There was still the wedding to look forward too. And they'd still write each other letters, and Twilight was sure she'd be hearing from either Applejack or Rarity and the future when they hit low points in their relationship. Maybe there are even babies in the future. So this was a good thing.

Or was it a bad thing? What if Rarity's worries were serious? Serious enough that they end up breaking up? Would we have to pick and choose between friends? Would one of them refuse to come to the conferences because the other would be there? What if—"

"Hey there silly-filly!" said Pinkie Pie, her face suddenly appearing inches from Twilight looking down on her. "You know from this angle it looks like you're smiling!"

Twilight jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of her friend, but quickly regained her composure. Staring up into that impossibly wide grin, Twilight couldn't help but start smiling again herself.

"Oh no! Now it looks like you're frowning! Oh wait, I'm upside down. So now you have to frown so you can smile! Wait, that's not right!" With some impressive contortions, Pinkie managed to trip over herself, flipping into the pool and splashing all of them.

Twilight shared a glance with Fluttershy and Rarity before all three burst out laughing, Pinkie Pie flailing around in the water as she tried to right herself. Like nothing had even happened, her pink curly mane shot back up out of the water. "Hey, you guys ready for ghost stories!?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Ghost stories?" asked Rarity, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that was on the agenda."

"Accordin' to RD this here mansion's supposed to be haunted," said Applejack as she trotted up to join the others alongside Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, if you guys knew the history of this place, you'd never sleep a wink. So that's why I'm going to tell you every detail!" said Rainbow Dash, grinning wickedly.

"Since when were you such a history buff?" asked Twilight, getting up out of the hot spring and shaking herself off.

"Well, I mean Fluttershy's the one who found it all. I just read all the cool parts," said Rainbow Dash as she offered a hoof to the yellow pegasus to help her out of the water.

Everypony's attention turned to Fluttershy, who blushed and began fidgeting with her mane, squeezing water out of it. "Oh. Um, it's nothing really. I just read some of the books here in the library. And well, I kind of heard about the legends before coming here. But oh! It's um, not all bad. There's a love story too..."

Rarity perked up at that while Fluttershy lapsed into a dreamy stare for a few seconds, and Twilight found herself chuckling. She couldn't deny she was still pretty curious about this mansion herself, if for no other reason because she didn't already know about it, which was a rare thing these days.

"'Y'all reckon we should take this back inside then? These springs are nice and all, but there's only so much soaking a pony can take," said Applejack.

"I agree… any longer and I'll start to get pruney," said Rarity, as she climbed out of the pool. Walking over to Applejack, she leaned in and fussed with her mane slightly, brushing some of the wet hair out of her fiancé's eyes. "And it looked so nice done up too… oh well. I knew it wouldn't last long."

"Yeah, well. Y'know I always say you look real pretty when you let your mane get all wet like that," said Applejack, grinning as she leaned over and gave Rarity a peck on the cheek."

"Heeeeeee!" squealed Pinkie Pie, bursting out of the water to land next to the blushing Rarity. "You two are so adorable together! Ooh, I bet when we're telling ghost stories later there's gonna be a really scary moment, and Rarity's going to be all 'Eek!' and Applejack's going to hold onto her to comfort her, but then later on there's going to be a REAALLY scary moment and then Applejack's going to go "Eeek!" and then they'll both have to hold each other!"|

The group's laughter echoed throughout the garden as they made their way inside.


	4. Chapter 3: The Legend of a Golden Wish

"Once upon a time, in ages long forgotten, there was a kingdom whose name nopony remembers…"

Rainbow Dash was standing on the table in the center of the room, delivering her narration with wild gesticulation. Her frame was cast with the flickering shadows from the roaring fireplace. After drying off, the six had retreated to the comfort of the parlor, where comfy pillows and refreshments awaited.

"The ruler of this kingdom was known as 'Princess Wishlight'. She was a kind, but strict ruler, and had many enemies. For you see, the Princess had a power nopony else did. She could grant wishes, give anypony what their heart desired most. As long as their wish was true, no boon was too great."

"But the power came with a terrible curse."

Rainbow Dash punctuated her story by stomping her hooves, causing Fluttershy to gasp slightly and Pinkie Pie to squeal with anticipation. Applejack and Rarity simply smiled, sharing a look as they snuggled closer under a blanket.

Twilight frowned, her mind already racing with questions. Something about this whole thing felt off, but she just couldn't put her hoof on it. Pulling out a quill and parchment, she started scribbling down notes, prompting Rainbow Dash to roll her eyes.

"Geez _Professor_, I hope I get a good grade on my speech!" said Rainbow Dash in a mocking tone, before she cleared her throat to continue. "Anyway, Terrible curse. The Princess had the ability to grant wishes, but the power did not come from the Princess' magic. Instead, ones heart's desire could only be granted by enacting an equal and opposite amount of suffering on somepony else. Usually just some poor random schmuck you've never met before. Other times, somepony close."

"In her youth, the princess abused her power with reckless abandon, ignorant to its backlash. She sought to make as many ponies happy as possible, and her kingdom flourished, even as tragedy continued to strike seemingly at random. But when she finally discovered the great cost her magic has wrought, she was heartbroken. She swore never to use her powers again."

Twilight quickly scribbled down a new set of notes. _Rainbow Dash is using vocabulary way above her. She must have practiced this with somepony else's guidance. _ Could it be Fluttershy? There weren't exactly a lot of options. With a sinking feeling in her gut, another thought occurred to her. _Maybe Rainbow Dash has simply become more well read, and I don't know because we never see each other._

"But her powers were not so easily forgotten," Rainbow Dash continued. "When the wishes dried up other ponies demanded to know why, but she dared not say, for she could not admit to inadvertently causing as much suffering as she already had."

"Having long coveted her power with jealous greed, the other nations banded together, invading her kingdom and inciting a revolt in her populace in order to gain her power and grant wishes for themselves." With a mock sigh Rainbow added a quick aside. "I guess the magic of friendship wasn't a big deal back then, y'know?"

Twilight focused on the story, still taking as many notes as she could. The details in this legend were incredibly vague. Was it left like that was on purpose because the details would be superfluous to the meat of the narrative, or because they were actually lost to time?

"Betrayed by her people, surrounded by enemies from all sides, the princess fought till the end. While her magic was still formidable in its own right, without using her ability to grant wishes she stood no chance. Wounded, she barely escaped her castle with her life. Running away and leaving everything she loved and cared about behind, she flew and flew until she couldn't go any farther and collapsed, ready to lie down and sleep forever."

With a dramatic pause, Rainbow Dash added, "The spot where she fell was this very valley."

Pinkie Pie shot up from her seat, interrupting and waving her arms around. "And then she still haunts this mansion to this very day! Oooooooooh"

Rainbow Dash buried her face in a hoof before stepping down from the table. "No, Pinkie. The story isn't over yet. Anyway, I'm going to let Fluttershy take over this next bit."

After a few awkward moments where Rainbow Dash stood still, waiting for Fluttershy to take her place on the makeshift dais, Fluttershy finally squeaked when she realized everypony's attention was on her and hesitantly spoke up. "Um, if it's okay, I'd like to just tell the story from here…"

"Suit yourself," Rainbow Dash said with a shrug, moving to an empty cushion and getting comfortable.

"Okay. Um, let's see. Well, uh, the princess didn't know how long she was out for, but she eventually awoke in darkness. In pain, but still alive," said Fluttershy, continuing the story.

Twilight had to strain her ears a bit to hear, especially compared to Dash's enthusiastic oratory. She started to scoot closer to hear a little better, but thought of a more practical idea and instead cast a quick spell to modify the acoustics in the room.

"The princess quickly realized she was not alone, the sound of heavy breathing reverberating around her along with gusts of hot air. Struggling to stand up, the princess tried to cast a simple illumination spell, but could only produce a few sparks before she felt a terrible backlash, a sharp pain in her horn that nearly caused her to pass out again."

"A deep voice rumbled from nearby, the very ground seeming to shake with its magnitude. 'Your magic will not work here, pony princess. On a strange whim I, Xzorak the Mighty have saved your life. The forkroot I have treated you with is a very powerful regenerative, but has rather strong anti-magic properties that should wear off in a few days. '"

Twilight had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Fluttershy's 'monster voice' was simply too adorable. The contrast in storytelling styles between the two pegasi was certainly quite stark, but it was hard to say if either was really better. Rainbow Dash had a good sense of action, adventure and dramatic timing, while Fluttershy reminded her of a mother reading bedtime stories to her foals.

"Groaning slightly, the princess turned to face her foe, trying to command as much presence she could muster even as her knees buckled underneath her. 'Do not toy with me, beast! If you have truly saved my life than I am grateful, but I will be no prisoner of yours, and I shall grant you no wishes. Show me the exit and stand aside.'"

"'My my. Such fire, such passion. You are no prisoner of mine, pony. You are free to go whenever you please. However, you must find the exit on your own. And be careful –' Xzorak let out a huge yawn, the blast of hot, rancid air nearly knocking the princess off of her feet. 'You might just wander into my open mouth, and I'd hate to swallow you by accident. Never been a fan of pony.'"

"The princess sat down on her haunches, already exhausted from standing and considered her options. As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she could barely make out the silhouette of her captor. She wasn't sure, but her gut told her she was face to face with a dragon, and a large one at that. She could wish herself out of here easily enough, but that's what had caused this whole mess in the first place. Never again."

"Cautiously extending her wings so she didn't walk face first into a wall, the princess made her way towards what appeared to be a mound of something. When it turned out be a mound of hay, she collapsed on top of it, the itchy straw somehow beating out the most comfortable down she had always slept on. After a moment's pause, she spoke up. 'Dragon – if that's what you are, anyway. Tell me why you have brought me here? Do you know of who I am?'"

"'Truly?' replied the dragon. 'I do not know. It's not every day an alicorn lands on your doorstep. I suppose it is a strange fancy of mine that brought me to save you. Perhaps I will change my mind, and gobble you up in the morning.'"

Twilight glanced up from her note taking, looking around to see how her friends were taking in the story. Pinkie was still vibrating in her seat, barely able to contain her excitement. The new couple was still snuggled close together, Rarity's eyes closed and resting peacefully on Applejack's shoulder. Far from enjoying herself though, Applejack seemed nervous, her ears laid back and her attention focused intently on Fluttershy's story.

Applejack happened to catch Twilight staring at her and quickly looked away, then back and put on a fake smile._Well, that was certainly convincing,_ thought Twilight as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. It was clear she was going to have to talk to Applejack later, and find out just what had her so – with a mild start, Twilight realized she had lost track of what Fluttershy was saying.

"…and after 4 days of food and rest, the princess finally felt her magic returning. 'Beware, Princess,' the dragon warned. 'For my visage is a fearsome one. You may not like what you see.'"

"The princess laughed, feeling her magic flow through her body again as she focused it to her horn. 'You sure make an awful lot of empty threats, Dragon. But I will not hide down here in the dark forever. It's not like you're the first dragon I've ever – Oh my.'"

"The Princess' breath caught in her throat as her eyes adjusted to the newly conjured light. The topaz dragon before her was indeed massive, but broken. His eyes appeared to be nailed shut. His teeth were removed; and only scarred stumps marked where his wings should be. His legs and tail were twisted and hobbled."

"'What could have possibly done this to you?' asked the princess, her voice tinged with shock and pity. With a low, pained laugh, the dragon responded. 'This is how dragons deal with their traitors.'"

"Tenderly, the princess reached up and put her hoof on the dragons scarred snout, thinking about her power. 'How much would you give to be whole again? To fly, walk, eat massive gemstones? To see the glorious light of this world?' When he simply regarded her silently, she added 'Would you accept such a gift if it meant somepony else would get hurt in your place? Probably a being you've never met before and likely never will.'"

"'No,' the dragon said after a slight pause. 'There has been enough suffering at my claws.' And with that, the princess made up her mind and decided to stay after all."

Twilight smiled, noticing that Fluttershy seemed really into her storytelling by now. She had gotten up from her cushion and was pacing around as she talked, now oblivious and uncaring about all the attention. The illusion would pop like a soap bubble if her current state was pointed out, so Twilight decided to keep those observations to herself.

"So the princess stayed with the dragon, partly because she had nowhere else to go, partly because in him she had found a friend and an intellectual equal. As the years went by, friendship turned to affection, and affection into love. It was a strange sort of romance, two exiles brought together in misery. And they lived happily… for a while."

Fluttershy let out a sigh, her eyes drooping slightly as she looked down. Twilight supposed this must be the part where everything went wrong.

"Eventually, the odd couple turned their thoughts to the future, and towards children. They had built quite a nice life for themselves. The princess even arranged to have this very mansion built in secret, so she didn't have to live in a dragon cave. Children would normally be impossible, but with her power… however even that selfishness, to create a miracle of life, she could not allow."

"But her heart betrayed her mind, and made the wish for her. The princess was with child."

Twilight scrunched her face slightly at the idea. She supposed with the portrait she saw in the manor hall the story was bound to go in this direction eventually. But was this really supposed to be a true story, as opposed to some silly legend?

With a low voice, Fluttershy continued. "It's unsure exactly who the curse targeted with its backlash. The princess herself perhaps, when she died giving birth? The dragon, having known a brief happiness and had it snatched away? Or the young filly, who would never know her mother, and had a father who could not give her the love and care she deserved?"

"Devastated by his loss, and unable to properly raise his daughter given his crippled state, the dragon arranged for servants to come to this mansion to bring her up properly. But the measured hand of a servant is no substitute for a loving family. The young filly grew up isolated and alone, with no real friends. Her heart soon became cold, and later cruel. The servants began to resent their charge, and the negative feelings only multiplied from there."

At this point, Rainbow Dash jumped back up on the table spreading her forehooves and wings as she cast a shadow over the gathered ponies, speaking ominously. "When she came of age and gained her cutie mark, her talent turned out to be very similar to her mothers. And that's when the servants began to disappear, one by one. Some began to recognize the pattern, and tried to flee, but was too late. Soon she alone remained in this mansion, as isolated and alone as her heart had always been."

"Months later, when a lone pegasus stopped by to deliver supplies, he found the mansion completely deserted. Everything was in exactly the same place as the last time he'd visited, except for one small detail. The lifelike portrait of the dragon mare in the entry hall!"

Rainbow Dash finished the story off with a maniacal laugh, and Twilight shuddered involuntarily at the thought of that creepy portrait. The story wasn't even as remotely terrifying as it had been hyped up to be (And had some plot holes besides) but it was entertaining regardless. And she was glad that the painting was out in a hallway as compared to say, her room.

Fluttershy let out a long sigh and visibly deflated as she switched from storyteller mode back to her regular self. "Um. Thanks for listening. I hope you girls liked it, and that it wasn't too long or anything."

Twilight smiled, and stomped her hooves appreciatively. "You two did a great job. It was very entertaining!"

Leaning in, Rainbow Dash suddenly spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. "Just so you girls are aware. I mean, a stories a story and all, but I've seen some spooooky stuff the few days I've been staying here already. Windows open when they were bolted shut before. Strange shadows. A hoofstep echoing down the corridor, out of step with your own… Shy's seen it all too, I'm not just messing with you."

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOH," interrupted Pinkie, actually on queue this time.

"Well um. I mean, I may have seen a few things, but I'm sure it's just a coincidence really… the mind can play tricks on you if you let it, and I can be pretty careless when it comes to locking things properly and…"said Fluttershy, trailing off.

Rarity tensed up, wrapping her forehooves around Applejack's neck. "Oh I am NOT walking back to my room alone tonight."

"Mmmhmm. Sure thing darlin'," mumbled Applejack. For some reason she still seemed pretty nervous, and Twilight suspected it wasn't the story that had her spooked. At least, not for the obvious reasons. "Uh, hey, sugarcube. Y'all never said exactly what the name of that there dragon filly was. I mean, y'all were pretty vague on the names anyway but," said Applejack as she fidgeted with her hat.

"Oh, um. Her name is Golden Wish."

"Er, right. Thanks Shy."

Twilight could swear she heard Applejack swallow at that. Just what was going on with her?

"Man, I'm beat. I mean, this is great and all, but I was busy doing all that cloud stuff earlier, so I'm gonna hit the hay," announced Rainbow Dash, yawning loudly for effect. "Although you girls should be careful - I mean it. just keep an eye out, okay?"

"It um, is about that time I guess. I should really go check on the princesses, see if they want a midnight snack or something," said Fluttershy.

"Oooh, I have such a fun party planned tomorrow planned for your brother and sister when they get here Twilight! I mean I know it's all official business and everything but there's no reason you have be serious when being serious!" With a wide grin, Pinkie bounced out of the room,

humming the first few notes of a song Twilight had yet to hear, but soon suspected she would.

"A lady does need her beauty sleep," yawned Rarity, as she glanced up at the large grandfather clock in the parlor. "Are you coming dear?"

"Uh, yeah. Just gimme a sec, I wanna ask Twi something." Applejack moved over and slung her forehoof around Twilight's shoulder, whispering softly. "Listen. All that stuff about wish grantin' alicorn princess is just some crazy legend right? Nopony could really do anything like that."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, surprised by Applejack's interest in the subject. "Honestly, I don't know. I've certainly never heard of such a legend until coming here, but I can't rule out the possibility. Something about the story feels off to me though, and I was planning on checking out some of the books here in the library. Oh, would you care to join me?"

"Eh, no thanks. Rar' is all spooked so I better be there, and I ain't no good with books anyhow." Applejack backed off, and moved over to Rarity's side. "Alright hon', let's get back to our room."

Twilight let out a small sigh as Rarity lit her horn up and the two left the room. It's not like it was anything new, but nopony else ever seemed to appreciate the joy of research.

* * *

Twilight groaned, slamming her head into the desk before her. These books were worthless! Well, fascinating really. But nothing matched the story Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had just told her. She had found some vague historical footnotes about a princess rumored to grant wishes. Some accounts of dragon history detailing ancient methods of dealing with traitors. There was even a short story about a unicorn and a dragon falling in love. Nothing about a child though, and nothing that really matched

Her eyelids drooping, Twilight pulled another book off the shelf and began to read. Why was she so interested in this in the first place? As the night waned on, the darkness of sleep began to call.

* * *

Princess Luna stood at the study window, looking out into the blackness of the storm below. With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes and spoke. "Sister… It is time. But must things really be this way? She is no longer your student."

"Everypony is my student, and I am theirs, dear Luna. We should always do our best to continue to learn and improve, day by day. And there are many lessons that even Twilight Sparkle has yet to learn. "

"But… must it be like this? These methods, this plan. I do not agree with this, sister. It is… wrong."

With a patient sigh, Celestia arose from her cushion, walking over to her sister and laying her head over Luna's neck, nuzzling her affectingly. "Her path ahead will be fraught with obstacles the likes of which she has never faced before. But I believe in the end, she will be able to reach out and find the **truth**. What she does with that knowledge afterwards is up to her and her alone. We cannot guide her anymore, but I have faith in Twilight."

Luna bit her lip with frustration, but said nothing.

* * *

Twilight stood up, putting the book down in front of her. "Just need to get up and walk for a bit, grab some more water while I'm at it." With an acknowledging nod from Fluttershy, she made her way to the kitchen, stretching her legs out.

This certainly was… something. Being inside her own head like this… Fluttershy captured her voice well enough. Maybe sometimes the fictional Twilight would think of something in a way she herself might not have, but overall it meshed up. She even found her own thoughts conforming to match those on the page, rather than wallowing in the dissonance.

She wondered about the state of Fluttershy's mystery as it had been presented so far. Mystery novels were said to be like a game between the author and the reader. In many novels, there's always a point right before the end, before they announce the culprit or whomever, where the detective might as well stop, turn to the audience and say "All the clues have been presented so far – can you solve it before turning to the next page and seeing what the answer is?"

At least, if it was a fair mystery it did so. Twilight had read her fair share of mysteries that obfuscated all the clues from the reader, or pulled a solution so far out of left field nopony could see it coming. Or it goes too far in the other way, and the clues are so blindingly obvious when they turn out to be correct it's a huge letdown. She wasn't a huge mystery buff by any means, but she was proud of her ability to solve a good mystery just in time, before the author pulls off the curtain.

So how would Fluttershy stack up?

Shaking her head in frustration, Twilight started back. _She's a friend who wants you to critique her novel, not play the grand game. _But as Fluttershy perked up when Twilight re-entered the room, her doubts remained. And something about the direction of the novel was setting off vague feelings of dread in the back of Twilight's mind.

Just where was Fluttershy going with this?


	5. Chapter 4: Golden Slaughterer

"Hey. Hey! Twi, are you in there!?"

"Nnnnnnnhgh…"

There was an incessant pounding coming from… somewhere. Was sleeping in a bit longer really that much to ask for?

"Twilight. Twilight, heloooo. Can't sleep in forever."

When Twilight slowly opened her eyes her senses were immediately assaulted by a sharp pain in her neck. Groaning as she stood up, she realized she had fallen asleep in the library, and with a mild sense of horror, that she had drooled all over the book she was reading.

"NnnRainbow Dash? Izzat you?" Twilight asked in the middle of a long yawn. "You don't have to keep knocking like that, just come in."

There was a slight pause, and then a sigh of relief from behind the door before the handle began to jiggle fruitlessly. "It's locked Twi, I can't get in. Not without busting it down."

Twilight frowned, still trying to parse her way through the cobwebs in her sleep addled mind. "Locked…? This is the library, why would I lock the door?"

When Rainbow Dash continued to jiggle the door handle to emphasize the point, Twilight rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and began walking over to the door on unsteady legs. When she got there, Twilight stopped, her eyes going wide. Not only was the door locked, but the chain lock and bolt were set too.

That shouldn't be possible, right? Thinking back, she definitely didn't remember locking anything herself. And she was pretty sure this was the only entrance to the library.

"Any day now, Twi." Rainbow Dash said impatiently.

Filing that thought away for later Twilight undid all the locks on the library door and swung it open to confront Rainbow Dash. Just what was so important that –

Twilight's breath caught in her throat and her eyeballs threatened to burst out of her sockets as she saw what was adorning the outside of the door and on one of Rainbow Dash's fronthooves.

Was that… blood?

"Is this… yours?" asked Twilight, unsure of what else to say as she gestured towards the red marks streaked all across the library door. Her brain seemed to have short circuited for a second, and she couldn't properly process the scene in front of her.

"Huh? No, of course not," Rainbow Dash said, scratching her head. "Wait, are you saying you didn't' put this here?"

"That's…" Twilight closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Whatever's going on now it was not the time to panic. Gingerly, she reached out and touched the door with one of her hooves. It was still wet, and –

Ah. This was red paint. _Of course._

Rolling her eyes as hard as she could Twilight leaned over, elbowing Rainbow Dash in the ribs. "Geez. That was a good one, RD. You _suuure_ got me! Now if you don't mind, I think I'm going to –"

"Why would I scribble red paint all over the library door? That'd be a pretty lame prank if you ask me. Plus Fluttershy would get all mad and make me clean it up," Rainbow Dash said, waving a forehoof dismissively. "Speaking of Fluttershy, have you seen her around? It's breakfast time and I'm starving, but I can't seem to find her anywhere."

"...Okay" Twilight said after a few moments of contemplation. "If it's not some kind of practical joke, then why is there…" Twilight took another look at the door, to see exactly what was drawn there. Three intersecting lines, a couple of smudges around the outside… "A crude drawing of my cutie mark on the library door in red paint?"

Rainbow Dash simply shrugged in response, and Twilight let out a sigh. "Last time I saw Fluttershy was last night after the story. I think she said something about checking up on the Princesses?"

Rainbow Dash frowned, bringing a hoof up to her chin. "Hmm. Weird. She's not in her room, already checked. Neither were you, I guess, and you were here, so whatever. I'll go look around some more."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, giving Rainbow Dash an exasperated look. "You could just go make your own breakfast you know. Just because Fluttershy is acting like a servant here for whatever reason doesn't mean you have to treat her like one."

"Aww come on Twi, it's not like that. Her food's just really good, you know?" Rainbow Dash said, grinning sheepishly. "Whatever. Maybe I can convince Applejack to whip something up."

"Rainbow, you should really let those two… be." Twilight let out a sigh as Rainbow Dash sped around the corner and out of sight before she could stop her.

After taking the time to stretch and fully wake herself now that Rainbow Dash wasn't demanding her attention, Twilight realized she was actually pretty hungry herself. She made her way towards the kitchen, trying to work out the stiffness in her neck along the way. It hurt, but in some way was oddly nostalgic. She hadn't fallen asleep doing research in a long time.

Twilight made it to the kitchen easily enough, and didn't have any problem finding the ingredients. She was by no means a star cook, but making a few sandwiches for herself and her friends wasn't exactly a mountainous undertaking either. It would pale in comparison to last night's feast, but it was the thought that counts. Poor Fluttershy must just be exhausted from working so hard.

Five minutes later Twilight found herself coughing up a storm as Rarity levitated the burning remains of 'breakfast' into the sink, dousing them with water.

"How did this even happen?" wondered Twilight incredulously.

"Don't worry about it dear. I deal with it all the time whenever I forget to lock the kitchen up when Sweetie Bell's around," Rarity said, brushing some ash off her coat.

* * *

"Hey!" I'm not _that_ terrible of a cook!"

Fluttershy blushed, clearly trying to stop herself from giggling. "Sorry."

* * *

"It's fimh," Applejack said, talking through a mouth full of apple before swallowing. "I mean, this'll do for a morning snack and all. Storm's still blowing, so not like any official business is going on today."

Twilight let out a light sigh. "And here I was hoping to see my brother and sister today. How long do you think it'll last?"

"My best bet is tomorrow," Rainbow Dash said as she entered the kitchen with a rush of wind. "But yeah, I still can't find Fluttershy anywhere. Or Pinkie Pie, for that matter."

"Just what do you mean by 'anywhere'?" Rarity asked, frowning.

"I mean I've searched every single room in this mansion, including the attic and the basement. Everything except the princesses room. I knocked a bunch to see if they knew anything but I didn't get any response," Rainbow Dash said as she paced back and forth.

"Couldn't they just be hidin' somewhere? Under a bed or in a closet or somethin'. Or maybe they're just moving from room to room as yer looking around," Applejack said.

"I guess," Rainbow Dash said, shrugging. "But why would they?"

"You have a point," said Twilight, trotting over to the kitchen window. "Do you think they're outside then?" She could see from here that her shield was still intact even as the storm raged on outside, drifts of snow piled up against the barrier.

"I could check again, I guess." With a sigh, Rainbow Dash sped off. Twilight watched her fly past the window and around the mansion grounds.

"So uh, Twi," Applejack said, moving in close to stand by the window. "You find anything about that legend in those books last night?"

"Huh? Oh right, that. No, I didn't find anything substantial. Just vague bits and pieces here and there. I really have no idea where Fluttershy and Rainbow even got the story from." Twilight paused, turning to raise an eyebrow at Applejack. "Just what about all this has you so bothered anyway?"

"Oh well," Applejack said, looking away. "Not much really. Kind of embarrassing if I think about it. Just uh, kind of reminded me about some old Apple family legends and was wondering if there was some connection."

Twilight narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but before she could dig deeper Rainbow Dash popped up outside the window, tapping on the glass.

"Uh, guys. You're going to want to come see this."

* * *

"This is…" Twilight said, trailing off.

"Just like at the library, yeah," Rainbow Dash said.

The four were gathered around a shed located in the back corner of the garden. While normally just an unremarkable (if sturdy) shack meant for holding tools, it was currently decorated with swatches of red paint similar to what was on the door to the library. If one squinted, they somewhat resembled the shape of a balloon with a butterfly on the inside of it.

"Are you suggesting that those two are… in there? Helooo? Fluttershy, Pinkie, its okay if you say something now, we'll just pretend to be surprised!" Rarity said. She was twirling her mane in her hooves, looking agitated.

"Can you open it?" Twilight asked, her voice collected and calm.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "It's locked, and I don't know where the key is. Plus I think it's chained from the inside as well. Just blast it open Twi. Better safe than sorry."

"Who the hay puts a chain lock on a garden shed?" Applejack asked as Twilight lowered her horn.

Twilight focused her magic, bringing it to bear against the comparatively flimsy shed door. Rather than blowing it to smithereens, she used the force to snap the hinges loose, catching the door with her telekinesis and laying it down gently.

What lay inside the shed burned a stark image into Twilight that would haunt her nightmares for the rest of her life. The world she knew and loved was gone forever.

* * *

Twilight's eyes were locked to the pink form on the floor of the shed, lying in a pool of what she desperately hoped was red paint.

"P-Pinkie Pie…?" she heard her own voice say, soft and weak.

Moving over to Pinkie's side, she rolled her over cautiously. Her eyes were closed with a soft smile on her face, like she was sleeping.

Her flesh was cold beneath Twilight's hooves.

"H-hey… come on, this is a joke right? Something like this couldn't actually happen, right? I mean, you've had some pretty poor tastes in jokes before Pinkie, but this really takes the cake. Hah! Get it, takes the cake…" Twilight's voice cracked as her whole body began to shake.

"C-come on, Pinkie."

Pinkie's form remained still and limp, a cold reminder of the harsh reality she had suddenly found herself in.

This couldn't actually be real, right? It was just some horrible nightmare. A vision brought on by all the scary stories. A prank by Discord, or just a changeling impersonating Pinkie, or…

"Oh sweet Celestia, that can't be…"

Twilight heard a soft voice behind her, seemingly miles away. Trying to blink through the tears, she looked up, and her heart froze again.

_No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!_

In the back of the shed there was what could only be described as a 'mess', some sort of macabre work of art that few would believe could have originally been a pony.

But the red stained yellow feathers and tufts of fur scattered around told a far worse story.

"Flu-"

Twilight's words caught in her throat, unable to even face the truth that was in front of her. She closed her eyes, placed her hooves over her ears and screamed as loud as she could, trying to make everything go away.

* * *

"What in Tartarus is this!?" Twilight yelled, throwing the book to the floor and whirling around to face Fluttershy.

Fluttershy shrieked at Twilight's outburst, her ears lying back and shrinking beneath the presence of the suddenly livid mare. "It's, um, I told you already, it's a m-murder mystery, Twilight…"

Shaken by what she had just read, Twilight tried to blink back her tears and fumbled with her words. "Mystery! You said it was a mystery! There was nothing about me having to read, in graphic detail, about the horrible deaths my friends suffered!"

Fluttershy tried to become even smaller as Twilight snorted and stomped her hooves, bearing down on the shivering pegasus.

"Why would even you _write_ something like that? Why would you ask me to _READ_ something like that!? It's just…"

Twilight took a step back, shuddering. She was already so immersed in the story, to even consider something like that happening… she suddenly had the strong desire to track down Pinkie Pie and give her long hug.

"I… I was just trying to…" Fluttershy burst into tears, her sobs wrenching another wound into Twilight's recently battered heart.

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her frayed nerves. It didn't work very well – she could still feel her hooves shaking and her teeth grinding themselves to points as her heart wrestled with all sorts of conflicting emotions.

"Fluttershy…" Twilight said with gritted teeth, her eyes still closed as she tried to shake her head clear.

"I-I'm sorry, T-Twilight!" Fluttershy said, choking out the words in-between wracking sobs. "P-please don't hate me…"

Twilight took another deep breath, counting to ten this time. She could deal with this. She was the 'Princess of Friendship' after all. And this was all just fictional anyway, right? She shouldn't let a book shake her up so much. She'd read on through the deaths of her favorite characters before, and it's not like any of her friends were really hurt, right?

In her mind's eye she could still picture Pinkie Pie lying there, cold and limp but still smiling.

"Fluttershy…" Twilight started up again, putting on a forced smile. "I don't hate you. But surely you understand that reading about… _that_ is something that is significantly emotionally distressing?"

Fluttershy nodded weakly before mumbling, "It's important…"

"Good! In that case, I'm sure you understand that it'd probably best if we don't continue this from here on out. I've just got too much bias to look at something like this objectively. But no worries! I've got a number of friends in the Equestrian Writers Society that would be more than happy to do some pre-reading and editing for you, and without all those pesky – "

"No!" Fluttershy 'shouted', her voice rising ever so slightly. Her eyes were wide with fear and her lip was quivering, but she locked eyes with Twilight, her expression pleading. "Please… Um, I mean, I'd really really really appreciate it if you could, um, see it through to the end. I know it's a lot to ask."

Twilight stared at Fluttershy, a blank look on her face. Was she seriously still asking this?

Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, looking away. "I… this is really important to me Twilight. And it can't be anypony else. It has to be you."

Twilight continued staring for a few moments before sighing and covering her face with a hoof. "No. Well, maybe. I mean, I don't know!"

Grimacing, Twilight turned towards the door. "Look, I need some fresh air. I'll take a walk and think about this. Sorry Fluttershy, but you're asking a lot. Just… help yourself to whatever you want while I'm gone."

Not wanting to see Fluttershy's reaction, Twilight teleported away, leaving her all alone.

* * *

The door to Sugarcube Corner opened with a merry jingling, and Twilight heard Pinkie call out from the back of the shop.

"I'll be out in a second!"

Twilight took a moment to just take in the familiar smells and warmth of the bakery. Coming here was a good idea.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, what can I get you – Woaah!" Pinkie jumped up into the air as soon as she saw Twilight, her hair standing on end. "We've got a baked goods emergency here! I'm going to need 500ml of frosting, stat!"

"Uh, hey Pinkie. What are – Mmff!" Twilight's greeting was interrupted when Pinkie Pie rushed over and shoved a cupcake into her mouth.

"Tmfs rmmry imhmt nemessmmry," Twilight tried to say, but was unable to overcome the frosted goodness. Despite her objections, the confectionary was absolutely delicious, and she found herself savoring every moment.

After finally managing to swallow, Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie, who had on her widest grin. Unable to resist smiling herself, she reached over and embraced her friend in a tight hug. "Thank you, Pinkie. I needed that."

"No problem Twilight, that's what I'm here for! You look like you've seen something scary. Like a nightmare! Everypony gets them occasionally, even me! I'm pretty good at dealing with them though, and it's pretty easy. Lemme show you!"

Pinkie Pie began bouncing around Twilight excitedly, and Twilight could feel that she was about to burst into song. Laughing, she pulled Pinkie Pie back to the floor. "It's a bit more complicated than that, Pinkie."

"Hmm…" Pinkie Pie pondered for a short time, then smacked her hooves together as a light flashed in her eyes. Disappearing for a second, she came back with a couch, pushed Twilight onto it, and sat next to her in a comfy armchair of her own while wearing a pair of glasses and blowing bubbles out of a pipe.. "

"Tell ze Doctor Pinkie about your problems," Pinkie Pie said in some sort of faux accent.

After recovering from her own laughter and wiping the tears from eyes, Twilight laid back, allowing herself to relax somewhat.

"Well… can you keep all of this a secret? Not necessarily for my sake, but for Fluttershy's?" asked Twilight, resting her forehooves behind her head and looking up at the ceiling.

"Absolutely," said Pinkie Pie, already going through her usual promise motions. "I take doctor patient confidentiality very seriously!"

"Well, Fluttershy came to me with this book…"

"… And then I just kind of blew up at her. Even then, she still wants me to keep reading, so I figured I'd cool off a bit and then came here."

Pinkie Pie gave a curt "Mmmhmm" and scribbled on her notepad, the same response she'd given to everything for the past half hour.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Pinkie Pie looked up and said, "Well, continue."

"Seriously?" Twilight asked, rolling her eyes. "And then you fed me a cupcake and then we hugged and I felt better and then we decided to do this pretend therapy thing and now it's right now."

"I see…" Pinkie Pie said, tapping the rim of her notebook with her pencil thoughtfully.

"Are you even actually writing anything down?" Twilight asked.

Smiling so hard her glasses flew off of her face, Pinkie Pie flipped the notebook over to show Twilight. "Look, I drew a picture of me skiing down a mountain made entirely of cake!"

Twilight let out a sigh, covering her face with a hoof. "Were you even listening to anything I said?"

"Of course I was silly!" Pinkie Pie said, looking somewhat offended.

After a few more moments of silence, Twilight gave an exasperated, "Well?"

"Well what? A story's just a story, Twilight! Did you stop and think that maybe Fluttershy isn't doing this for the shock value or to make you angry? She doesn't seem like the type to not have a reason."

Twilight frowned, unable to form a concrete objection. "Yeah, but…"

"And just think! You're the book expert Twi, you should've seen this already! When a story really puts a heroine through the wringer, when she loses a lot and has to try her very hardest to succeed, what happens at the end?"

Twilight's eyes widened, the light at the end of the tunnel shining in her face. How could she have missed something so obvious? "A happy ending. Of course!"

Beaming, Pinkie Pie nodded enthusiastically. "Maybe it's dark now, but I'm sure it won't stay that forever. You just gotta believe in Fluttershy and do your best!"

"Thanks Pinkie Pie," Twilight said, pulling Pinkie into another hug. Stepping back, she smiled and turned towards the door. "I should probably be getting back. Fluttershy must be an absolute wreck by now. I hope she's still there."

"Give her some of these; it'll make her feel better!" Pinkie Pie quickly shoved a box of baked goods into Twilight's hooves. "Oh, and I know she seems adamant about only you reading the book, but if you can get her to change her mind that would be awesome; I wanna know how it ends! Ooh, and then she could write one starring me next. That would be fun!"

Twilight levitated the pastries behind her as she left Sugarcube Corner, stopping to wave one last time before the doors closed. Pinkie Pie continued waving until Twilight was completely out of sight, then turned to get back to her neglected work, smiling.

She stopped halfway there, a frown crossing her face as a thought occurred to her. "Unless Fluttershy's story is actually a tragedy. Yeesh. That would be rough!"

* * *

Twilight opened the door to the library to find Fluttershy hovering in place with a feather duster in her mouth, dusting off some of the higher bookshelves. The room in general seemed a little bit cleaner than she had left it.

"Oh. Um, hey Twilight," Fluttershy said as she landed and placed the duster on a nearby table. "I just figured I'd help clean up a bit while I was waiting for you to get back."

Fluttershy looked up at Twilight with an expectant, hopeful expression, her eyes still somewhat puffy from crying earlier.

Smiling, Twilight handed her the box of pastries. "Here, have some of these. Pinkie made them special." Taking a bite of a cupcake herself and swallowing, Twilight continued, "And I'm sorry for yelling at you like that Fluttershy. I let my anger get the better of me. I'll keep reading."

"Yaay!" Fluttershy threw her forehooves around Twilight, her wings carrying her up and down excitedly. "Oh thank you Twilight. I was really worried you were going to say no. "

Twilight gently extracted herself from the pegasus' grip, helping Fluttershy back to the ground. "I can't promise I'll… _enjoy_ reading about stuff like that happening to my friends, but I should be able to handle it."

Fluttershy nodded, sinking backwards slightly. "I understand, Twilight. And um, I'm sorry I didn't properly warn you about what was coming."

Frowning, Twilight turned to the book resting on the table apprehensively. "Is there… more stuff like this? Later on?"

Fluttershy's face fell, and she was silent for a long while before finally answering, "Yes," in a tiny voice.

Twilight closed her eyes, sighing. She could handle this. _Happy ending. _"Well, I'm trusting you Fluttershy, on this being important. "

Fluttershy nodded emphatically and Twilight made her way to get comfortable again.

"Did you um, talk to Pinkie about this?" Fluttershy asked once the two had settled down.

"I did," Twilight said, nodding. "Don't worry though; I made her promise to keep it a secret."

Picking up the book again, Twilight took a deep breath, turning to the page she had left it at.

Those horrible words were still there, staring her right in the face. She almost thought about skipping ahead, but a scene like this in a mystery was probably one of the most important, and contained all sorts of valuable clues.

She could handle this.


	6. Chapter 5: Challenge

Twilight wasn't quite sure how long she stayed there, curled up into a ball. Her perception of time was dimmed, and she shuddered while trying to deny this horror as hard as she could. She wanted nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare.

A strong grip wrapped around her midsection and Twilight felt herself being lifted up into the air. With a start she opened her eyes to find Rainbow Dash carrying her, but then yelped and began to flail in her grasp when her gaze fell upon the red mess in the shed again.

A stray hoof caught Rainbow Dash in the jaw and she dropped Twilight with a grunt. Slightly dazed and sprawled on the ground, the sounds of the world came rushing back to Twilight. Rarity was wailing fiercely from somewhere behind her.

Twilight's eyes were still locked to the horror inside, up until her view was suddenly blocked by a cyan flank. Rainbow Dash's wavering voice spoke from above her.. "Just… don't look Twi. I'm sorry…."

For some reason, Twilight found herself craning her neck to try and look at the scene she desperately did not want to see, and Rainbow kept shifting her body to block her vision. _I have to get to her…_

Twilight's mind suddenly exploded with thoughts, unbidden and dark. _I can save them somehow. I can time travel, stop this whole thing from happening in the first place. Or just put them back together. There are ancient rites, rumored forbidden magics that can bring back a pony from death. Maybe I can track down that sunblighted so called 'dragon mare' and force her to wish them back to life. I don't care who gets harmed in the process._

Twilight found herself laughing, tears running down her face as she pounded her hoof into Rainbow Dash weakly. _Useless. It's all useless._

"Rar, I… I just…" Applejack was doing her best to comfort her sobbing fiancé, but it was clear she was barely keeping it together herself.

Twilight took a deep breath and tried to stand up, her legs wobbling unsteadily beneath her. She had to pull herself together. She was supposed to be the leader, the one who her friends could count on in a crisis. _The friends I still have left, anyway._

She was supposed to do… something. But what? Her mind was sluggish, and couldn't focus on any one particular idea enough to fully articulate it. She should… check for evidence. Yes, that's a thing that ponies do in situations like this.

Rainbow tried to block her again as she trotted back towards the shed, but Twilight brushed her aside, calmly approaching the bodies once more. Even as the back of her mind screamed at her to just turn and run away while the contents her gut fought to remove itself from her stomach, she felt herself move forward dispassionately.

Kneeling down at Pinkies side she examined the corpse again, this time with scientific rigor. _No pulse… obviously. Judging by the temperature and state of the corpse, estimated time of death is between six-eight hours. She appears to have been killed via a cutting implement to the jugular, and died from blood loss. There are no signs of a struggle, and the expression on her face suggests she may have been sleeping peacefully. The amount of blood in the shed suggests she was killed here. Perhaps she was drugged before being brought here, but I can't tell with the tools I have available._

Standing back up, Twilight wiped the sweat off of her brow. One down, one to go. She started towards the back of the shed, but stopped, unable to force herself to look at anything but the ground. Suddenly she found herself super interested in almost anything else, like the patterns on the tile floor or the broken pieces of chain lock from when she had broke the door open.

Taking a deep breath and swallowing nervously, she forced herself to look into the back of the shed again. _Fluttershy…_

She had to examine her properly. There was bound to be some crucial evidence or something like that, right? Nevermind that there wasn't anything that could even truly be considered a recognizable body part. Nevermind that something had done this to the kindest, sweetest, most innocent pony she had ever known.

Á memory of words last spoken slipped into her mind.

"_Goodnight Twilight. Sleep well."_

Twilight turned around and walked away, firing up her horn and dropping a small, opaque shield to cover up the shed.

"Huh? Twi, what're you…" Applejack asked, trailing off.

"We should… go inside. Standing out here any longer won't do us any good," Twilight said as tears ran down her face.

"B-but… you… we can't just leave them there," Rarity said, looking at Twilight horrified. "We have to… do something with…"

Rarity let out a choking sob, and Applejack held on to her tighter. Twilight shook her head, closing her eyes. "This is a crime scene. We have to preserve it so when the professionals get here everything will be intact."

"What professionals?" Rainbow Dash asked. "In case you haven't noticed, it's just us here, and nopony is getting through that storm any time soon.

"Aren't… aren't you a professional Twi? Surely you can figure somethin' out, or use your magic to…" Applejack trailed off, looking away.

Twilight bit her lip as a tear slid down her face and she shook her head. "I'm sorry."

The silence following her apology spoke enough for everyone, and the four headed back inside.

* * *

Twilight paced around and around the table in the lounge, wearing grooves into the hardwood floor. Rarity and Applejack were huddled together on a nearby duvet, still sobbing softly, while Rainbow Dash stared blankly out the window.

The grief and emptiness in Twilight's heart was slowly starting to harden into a simmering anger. Two of her best friends were dead, on what was supposed to be a happy reunion for all of them. But they weren't just dead. They were murdered. Somepony deliberately killed them in a brutally horrific fashion.

Such a vile act was antithesis to everything she, her friends, and Equestria as a whole stood for, but there existed some monster out there capable of committing such violence.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and looked around as the gears in her head slowly began to turn once more. There wasn't some monster '_out there_'…

"Still here," Twilight mumbled, breaking the spell of silence in the room.

"Uh, what was that sugarcube?" Applejack asked, her voice still raw.

"Whatever… _monster_ did this… killed them," Twilight said, choking on the words slightly as her voice wavered. "They're still here."

Rarity's eyes darted around the room, glancing at the various entrances and windows fearfully. "Are… are you sure, Twilight?"

Nodding, Twilight began pacing around the center of the table again. "My shield. I put that up last night, and it's still going. Nopony can get in or out. Not without breaking it anyway."

"So what yer saying is that they…" Applejack looked around the room herself, swallowing as her eyes widened.

"That whoever did this was hiding somewhere here in the mansion. At the absolute latest right before I put up the shield, but probably for longer than that," Twilight said, increasing her pace as she began to pick up steam.

"Could a unicorn not simply teleport in and out?" Rarity asked.

Twilight shook her head. "The shield blocks teleportation as well. I mean, a strong enough Unicorn could do it, but it would still break the shield."

* * *

"Uh, just a note Fluttershy, shield spells don't actually work like that. Unicorns can teleport in and out without difficulty, and they don't necessarily shatter completely when penetrated," Twilight said, breaking away from the novel as she slipped into lecture mode.

"Oh. Um, well. I tried to do as much research as I could on magic, but I really don't know a lot. It's um, though - For the sake of the story, is it okay if we just assume that this particular spell works like this?" Fluttershy asked, blushing sheepishly.

Twilight bit her lip and frowned. Even on top of everything else, inaccuracies like this would bug her continuously, like an itch that couldn't be scratched. Still, she could kind of already see the scenario Fluttershy was trying to create with this restriction. Even if it was rather arbitrary.

"I guess that's fine… as long as it stays internally consistent, anyway," Twilight said, letting out a small sigh.

* * *

"So while there should have only been eight ponies in this mansion yesterday, there were really nine," Twilight said. "Me, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Celestia, Luna, and…" Twilight let out a breath, closing her eyes. "Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Followed by Culprit X."

"Did any of you see anything last night that might indicate something like that? Anything at all?" Twilight asked, looking to each of her friends individually as they looked to each other apprehensively.

"Uh, sorry Twilight. Can't say I noticed anypony skulking about, or anything off sorts," Applejack said as she hung her head.

"I mean…" Rarity said, trailing off for a moment before snapping back to attention. "There is that creepy legend. And that grisly epigraph… there's no way they aren't related."

"Yes, I've considered that already," Twilight said, waving a hoof dismissively. "Maybe the culprit is a crazy wish granting alicorn-dragon ghost from an old legend. Or maybe the culprit just wants us to think that. I don't really care what they are. I'm going to find out who did this, and make them pay," Twilight growled, a somewhat manic glint in her eye.

"Hang on now sugarcube. I wanna find who's responsible for this just as much as you do, but don't go flyin' off the handle just yet," Applejack said as she looked up to meet Twilight's eyes.

Twilight hung her head, shuddering as another wave of revulsion at what had happened passed through her. "I'm sorry Applejack. But I have to do something, or I really will lose it."

Applejack nodded solemnly and Twilight resumed her pacing. "So the question comes down to who did it, how they did it, and why," Twilight said.

"Why does any of that even matter?" Rarity asked sharply as she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. "You already established that the culprit is trapped in here with us. We just need to search the mansion, find them, and deal with them."

"It might not be that simple," Twilight said. "Whoever this pony is, they're dangerous. So we can't split up and search alone. But even if we move as a group, carefully searching each room from top to bottom, the culprit might be able to stay one step ahead of us the entire time. Or they could be hiding in some secret room we wouldn't be able to find on our own."

"So are we just supposed to, what, wait here in this room until help arrives?" Rarity asked, her tone acidic.

"Careful now Rar. You're hurtin'. We all are, but we can't afford to be getting snippy with each other in a time like this."

Rarity bit her lip and lowered her eyes for a few moments before leaning back into Applejack. "I love you, you know that right?"

Applejack closed her eyes and nuzzled her fiancé before turning her attention back to Twilight.

"To defeat thy enemy thou must know thy enemy," Twilight said, her obscure quote eliciting only blank faces.

After a long pause Twilight planted her face in her hoof, sighing. "It's a quote from the legendary tactician… you know what, nevermind. Have any of you ever played chess?"

After a few more moments of awkward silence Rarity offered up a weak "I… know the rules?"

Twilight let out a long groan. "Well, it's like this. Lots of strategy, positioning, moves to memorize, yada yada. But one of the most important goals in chess is to put yourself in your opponent's position, to think like them, and see things from their angle so you can predict their moves and ultimately win. Of course, a good opponent will be doing the same with you."

"So what do we know about the culprit then?" Applejack asked.

Twilight raised a hoof to launch into a longer explanation but froze. What _did_ she know?

Everything about this was strange, and there was so much all going on at once. She needed to pick something to focus on as a starting point.

Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, Twilight glanced around, suddenly remembering when she had woken up this morning. _Why the marks on their doors? I was found in a locked room with my cutie mark painted on the door, alive and well. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were in the shed, marked by their cutie marks and… dead. But why call attention to that? If you want to murder somepony and get away with it, isn't it better to hide the body and hope it's not found? Without those marks, we probably never would've thought to look in the shed._

"Uh, hey, Twi?" Rainbow Dash interrupted, speaking up for the first time since they'd all come inside. "I think we might be forgetting to do something here."

"Rainbow, I'm trying to think here, give me a minute," Twilight said, frowning in concentration.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "You said it yourself earlier. Eight ponies here that we know of…"

Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash blankly for an uncomfortably long moment, as the large clock in the room continued its ticking.

"Oh!" Twilight cried out, immediately crouching and firing up her horn. "Princess Celestia!"

With a pop, Twilight disappeared from the parlor and into a hallway on the second floor, crashing into a table with a potted plant on it. She didn't know this mansion well enough for precision.

Groaning and extracting herself from the mess, she quickly galloped to the end of the hallway, where a large ornate door emblazoned with a sun and moon waited.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! It's me, Twilight! This is an emergency!" Twilight banged on the door repeatedly, trying the handle and finding it locked.

She continued knocking, but after a minute with no answer whatsoever, the icy grip of fear began to take ahold of her heart once more.

"Come on, Princess Celestia, please answer. We need you!"

Backing away from the door with a grimace, Twilight lowered her horn, prepared to use brute force. "I'm sorry Princess, but I'm coming in!"

With a hum and a zap, Twilight fired a bolt of energy at the door, only to yelp and dive for cover when the bolt reflected, bouncing around the hallway before vaporizing an ornate vase.

"Okay…" Twilight groaned, standing back up. "Maybe this then."

Teleporting to into an area you've never seen before was risky, but if it was just on the other side of the door it should be okay. Focusing her magic yet again, Twilight made the precise calculations and disappeared with a pop.

A strange vibration ran through her body and Twilight found herself thrown backwards, tumbling away from the door and bouncing down the hallway.

"Ow. I guess they have the whole thing shielded," Twilight muttered with a pained groan.

She unsteadily stood back up, wincing slightly as she did so. Nothing seemed to be broken, but she had certainly bruised something in the fall.

Before she could try something even more dangerous, she heard the sound of galloping hooves echoing down the hallway. She wheeled in a alarm for a moment, but relaxed as Rainbow Dash came skidding around a corner.

"Applejack, she's over here!" Rainbow Dash called out as she sped over towards Twilight.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called out excitedly. "Good, you're here. Look, the princesses aren't answering, and I can't break down the door. It's too strongly warded."

Applejack and Rarity came galloping over a few seconds later, both of them panting slightly.

Taking a deep breath, Rarity smiled sweetly at Twilight. "Twilight, darling. I know you're under a lot of pressure here, but in the future, if you're going to be teleporting off on your own –"

"And don't, because that's a darn stupid thing to be doing at a time like this," Applejack growled, cutting Rarity off.

"Please at least _warn_ us before doing so. You nearly gave me a heart attack vanishing like that!" Rarity finished, looking disapprovingly at Twilight.

Twilight grimaced. Was this really the time for this? "Look, I'm sorry, maybe I got a little ahead of myself there, but every second might count. The princesses aren't answering the door. Rainbow, Applejack, do you think you could buck the door down together?"

Applejack approached the door, looking it up and down. "I dunno. Looks pretty dang sturdy to me. Especially if it's reinforced by magic as well."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Or we could just –"

"True, I can't break it down with my magic either. In that case, Rainbow Dash, come with me. We can fly outside and try to break through the windows. They might be less enchanted than the door," Twilight said, already moving to open one of the hallway windows.

Rainbow Dash planted her face in a hoof and growled under her breath. "I'm trying to tell you that –"

"If that doesn't work, maybe we could try to blast through from the room below? You'd be surprised at where you can find structural weak points sometimes," Rarity suggested helpfully.

"I have the keys right here!" Rainbow Dash shouted, her face red as she pulled out a ring with several iron keys attached to it.

"Oh. Sorry," Twilight said sheepishly. She levitated the keyring from Rainbow's grasp and started trying to unlock the door. "Which one of these is it? And where exactly did you get these anyway?"

"Should be one of them," Rainbow Dash said, shrugging. "And there's a servants room near the kitchen which has the keys for everything in there."

After a trying a few of the keys, Twilight finally found one that clicked, and she pushed the heavy door open with more than a little effort.

"Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?" Twilight called out as she entered the large study, her voice fearful. Despite the nervous atmosphere, the study itself was warm and inviting, a roaring fireplace casting flickering shadows across the room. Rather than a single room, it was more like a small apartment, with adjoining doors leading to private bathrooms, a bedroom and a dining area.

The four ponies entered the study cautiously, looking around. The doors to the adjoining rooms were open, and none of them saw any sign of the princesses.

"They're not here…" Twilight said, her heart sinking to her hooves.

"They must have been recently," Rarity said, inspecting the couches around the fireplace. "This place looks lived in."

"Princess? If y'all are hidin' in here, we'd really appreciate it if the jokes stopped. Ponies're dead, and we need your help," Applejack said, peeking underneath the bed in the nearby room.

"But why wouldn't they be here?" Twilight asked, her voice weak. "Where would they even go? At a time like this… not them. They have to be okay…"

There was suddenly a loud bang and a clicking sound as the door to the study slammed shut behind Rainbow Dash, who had moved inside instead of holding it open. "Huh," Rainbow said, looking back. "Guess the door auto locks."

"Let me know if you girls find anything, okay? Maybe a note or some evidence as to where they might have gone?" Twilight asked as she began rifling through a nearby bookshelf.

"Well, there is 'something' here," Rarity called out from the dining hall.

Twilight pushed ahead of the others to go see exactly what Rarity was talking about.

"There's really no accounting for taste, is there?" Rarity said as she scrunched her face up.

Adorning the far wall of the lounge was the same portrait in the entry hall, of the purple maned alicorn with draconic features. The portrait of the dragon-mare (draconequus? It might be a more technical term, but she certainly didn't remind her of Discord) was identical in every respect, including the inclusion of the plaque with the grisly epigraph at the bottom.

Twilight frowned, looking the painting up and down. "I can see it being in the entrance hall, but why here of all places?"

When nopony answered her rhetorical question, Twilight turned to address Rainbow Dash, who was hanging back in the study area. "Rainbow, you have to know more about this, don't you? 'Golden Wish' or whatever her name is. You and…" Twilight hesitated, still unable to think of her friend without a fresh pang of agony. "Fluttershy were the ones who told that story after all."

Rainbow Dash froze in the face of the sudden attention, casting her eyes downward and pawing at the ground. "I really don't know all that much, sorry Twi. It was mostly all Shy's thing, y'know? Maybe take a closer look at that riddle?"

Twilight blinked in confusion. "But Rainbow, you were all over that story last night. Surely you know something that might be helpful?"

Rainbow Dash bit her lip and looked away. "Look I… don't really want to think about that right now. I'm sorry."

Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash moved over to sit on some of the cushions by the fireplace. _I guess Rainbow is taking this harder than I thought… she definitely seems out of it._

Shaking her head, Twilight approached the portrait, examining the epigraph beneath.

"From a wish sprouts a seed of power

To grant your heart's deepest desire

Bless this seed with your greatest love

But this love must be born in blood

In death lies truth – the heart laid bare

No sacrifice too great

Abandon self

Rend asunder, and begin anew."

"Do you really think it's related to all this?" Rarity asked, peering over Twilight's shoulder. "Is it some kind of high level magic?"

"Love born in blood… no sacrifice too great… rend asunder…" Twilight muttered, thinking out loud. "It sounds like it could be a ritual, or well, a sacrifice. Perhaps it alludes to sacrificing something or someone in order to gain what you want?"

"Like the legend then, where there weren't no wishes unless you were willin' t'hurt somepony else in the process," Applejack said.

"So you're saying some sick pony planned to kill our friends and probably us, just for what? To get a wish?" Rarity asked, practically spitting her words out, her hooves shaking..

Twilight sighed, lowering her head. "It's possible, but all we have is vague speculation at this point. It's so hard to see how this is all supposed to fit together. And just where are the princesses?"

"I… I just," Rarity said, still shaking.

Applejack moved over and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Come on hon, let's go sit down for a bit."

Rarity nodded, sniffling slightly and the couple moved back towards the main room, Twilight following after them.

As Twilight walked over towards where Rainbow Dash was lying down, a glint of gold caught her attention from the corner of her eye. When she turned to see what it was, she was surprised to see a letter with gold trim lying on the center of an end table.

"Was… this here before?" Twilight asked, confusion in her voice.

"Was what here before?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking up.

"This letter. Hey, did any of you see this letter sitting here when we came in earlier?" Twilight was sure the table had been empty.

"Can't say I saw anything like that, and a letter that fancy certainly stands out," Applejack said as she came through the doorway.

Rarity shook her head. "What does it say?"

Twilight carefully opened the letter and pulled out a sheath of nice stationary covered in neat, nearly perfect calligraphy. Swallowing nervously, she began to read.

* * *

"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Welcome to my mansion. How are you enjoying your stay so far? Have the accommodations been to your liking?

By now it has likely come to pass that some of your friends are dead. Terribly unfortunate, that. You have my condolences.

I can empathize, really. I have problems of my own. You see, I'm stuck here in this mansion, unable to leave and experience the joys of life beyond these walls. But there is a way, and for that I need you, Twilight Sparkle.

Because I am ever the benevolent pony, I have three options for you.

1: Surrender yourself wholly to me, mind body and soul, and we shall walk away from here together. Nopony else has to get hurt.

2: I finish what I've started, and use the power of the ritual to take what I want anyway.

3: You, Twilight Sparkle manage to stop me by finding out the **truth**. Hey, there's gotta be a chance for me to lose, right?

I am eager to see the results of your decision. Of course, if you dally around too long, I'll make the choice for you.

Best wishes and all my love,

-Golden Wish"


	7. Chapter 6: Missing

Twilight stared down at the letter, her hooves shaking as her blood boiled in her veins.

This was real. Somepony had actually written this. They had taken a pen to this piece of paper, and written these words on it. Words that bragged about the murders of her closest friends. Words that taunted her. Words that expected her to play along in some kind of sick, twisted game.

She suddenly had a very strong desire to set something on fire.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight closed her eyes and slowly began counting backwards from ten as she clenched her teeth as hard as she could. In a way, this made things easier. Now she had a clear antagonist against whom she could focus her efforts. All she had to do was find this so called 'Golden Wish', stop her, and avenge Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"Is that for real?" Rarity asked, her voice faint.

"As real as anything else in this mansion," Twilight growled, handing the letter over so the others could take a look at it.

Twilight began pacing back and forth, her heart fluttering with… excitement? She had a target. Now she just needed a plan.

"And you found this letter right here on this table?" Applejack asked, gesturing towards the furniture in question.

Twilight stopped, frowning. How _had_ the letter gotten there? "Rainbow Dash… I know for a fact that this letter wasn't here when we came in. Did you see anything at all? Maybe a flash as it was teleported in?" _No, this room is shielded, remember? "_Or did you see some movement out of the corner of your eye?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Sorry, Twi. I didn't notice anything until you pointed it out."

A thought occurred to her and with a flap of her wings, Twilight flew up to the top of the room, inspecting the ceiling in the area above the table. To her dismay, she didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"Uh, Twi? Mind telling us what's up?" Applejack asked as Twilight returned to the ground, looking ornery.

"That letter can't exist," Twilight snapped, jabbing a hoof at the offending paper.

"I'm pretty sure it does," Applejack said, raising an eyebrow.

"But it can't! There's no way it could've gotten in here! This room is practically a fortress. Even if she was strong enough to force her way in, there's no way she could've done it stealthily. Even if she had a key of her own, and, I dunno, turned invisible or something we would've heard the door open and the loud click of the lock, and Rainbow surely would've noticed something. And there's no crazy trick involved here either, no timed hidden compartment in the ceiling for a letter to mysteriously fall from," Twilight said, taking a deep breath after her rant.

"Is it really that important, Twilight?" Rarity asked. "If this fiend is who she claims she is, than can't she just wish the letter up here?"

T wilight snorted in response. "A power like that only belongs in old pony tales. There's no way something so unrestricted and freely able to ignore the rules of magic could exist in real life. And if she did have this kind of power, why are any of us still alive at all? Why not finish us and be done with it? Nope. This letter being here is impossible."

A heavy silence fell over the room as nopony really wanted to object to Twilight's assertion, despite how ridiculous her conclusion was.

After a minute Rarity finally cleared her throat and spoke up. "So, Twilight? What are you going to do about this letter? She seems to be directly challenging you, after all."

"I'm going to…" Twilight paused, considering. "Do nothing."

"Nothing?!" all three ponies answered at once, looking to each other in confusion.

"Nothing," Twilight repeated, feeling more confident. "At least, nothing that she suggests. I'm not going to play into the hooves of some sick murderer. We should be safe as long as we stick together. I don't care how powerful she thinks she is – I won't let her hurt any more of my friends. We're going to find Princess Celestia and Luna, and together we're going to stop her. "

Applejack came over and clopped Twilight on the shoulder, nodding. "Sounds like as good of a plan as any."

"Will we really be safe out there?" Rarity asked, fidgeting slightly.

"Shoot, hon. If anypony tries to mess with us, we've got Twi's magic, and then Rainbow and I will buck them into next week," Applejack said, puffing her chest up.

"Right then. Rainbow Dash, you probably know this mansion better than the rest of us. Will you be able to make sure we search every room?" Twilight asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess," Rainbow Dash said, her voice distant.

After a few minutes of gathering themselves, the group of four exited the study. Before they began the search however, Twilight had a few more things she wanted to confirm.

"Rainbow, is that the only key to this door?"

"I think so? Well, no, I'm sure the princesses have their own set. But other than that, probably. I could be wrong though," Rainbow Dash said with a shrug.

Nodding, Twilight turned to face the ornate door which had locked behind them. She fired up her horn, allowing her magic to flow gently against the door. She felt for the various spell matrices that protected it. They were too complex and powerful to destroy or alter on her own, but she could add a spell on top of them.

After a few more moments of focus the spell was complete. Twilight wiped the sweat from her brow and stood back, admiring her handiwork. "There. I've set a simple alarm spell on the room so that if anypony enters it while I'm gone, I'll know immediately."

Travelling a short distance and opening the door to the nearest guest room, Twilight called out, her voice echoing down the halls. "Princess Celestia? Princess Luna? Are you in here?"

This particular room wasn't occupied, so the four searched through it quickly, checking wardrobes, underneath beds and in bathrooms, but finding nothing out of the ordinary.

The trepidation and determination they felt at searching a mansion while an admitted murderer lurked somewhere just out of sight slowly gave way into boredom. Each room they searched turned up nothing out of the ordinary. No sign of the princesses and no clues to the location of their enemy.

After two hours Twilight finally closed the door to the library, giving an exasperated sigh. "Well, that's every room. This mansion is just so big; I can't shake the nagging feeling that there are all these hidden doors everywhere we're just missing."

"I dunno," Applejack said. "I think if there were secret doors like that all over the place, we probably would've stumbled across at least one of 'em by now."

"In any case, we should probably be getting back to the study. Just because we haven't found anything so far doesn't mean we should let our guard down," Twilight said.

There was a loud gurgling sound, and Twilight turned to see Rainbow Dash blushing slightly as she patted her stomach. "Actually Twi, can we swing by the kitchens first? None of us really ate breakfast this morning."

"I'm not so sure about…" Twilight paused, realizing for the first time that she was pretty hungry herself. The events of the morning had certainly killed her appetite for a time, but whatever was to come they shouldn't be doing it on an empty stomach. "Actually yeah, that's a good idea."

"Are you sure that the food will be safe?" Rarity asked.

"Poisoning the food at this point seems like it might be a bit out of character, but better safe than sorry. I know a few spells that can detect both natural poisons and magical curses, so between those we should be safe," said Twilight as they made their way down the hall.

The four of them quickly got to work at preparing a meal. Twilight inspected the food to make sure it was safe while the rest worked on preparation and cooking.

Eventually Twilight found herself next to Rarity while they worked the stove, watching the pots boil in silence. She felt a fresh stab of agony as she remembered helping Fluttershy make last night's dinner. It already seemed like a lifetime ago.

Eager to still the fears in heart by talking about something normal, Twilight spoke up. "So um, when we went through and searched your room earlier I noticed some of the dresses you were working on. I didn't know you brought them here, but they were really nice."

"Oh, those…" Rarity said, a distant look in her eyes. "Thank you Twilight. I…"

Rarity choked sniffling as tears began to run down her cheeks.

Twilight winced at the sudden change in mood, and scrambled to offer a comforting hoof. "Rarity! Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's quite alright Twilight," Rarity said with a pained laugh, wiping at her eyes. "I just… I hadn't even started it yet, but I had such a wonderful dress in mind for Fluttershy to wear as a bridesmaid. She's always had such a divine grace to her, don't you think? And this really would've accented it perfectly… And I'm sure Pinkie Pie would have thrown us one of her best parties yet. But now… we'll never get to see that, will we?"

Twilight tried to fight back the tears welling up in her own eyes. "Rarity..."

Rarity closed her eyes, weeping softly. "What are we supposed to do, Twilight? Even if we make it out of here, stop this villain and bring her to justice, how are we supposed to move on? They're… dead. There's going to be a giant hole in our lives that will never go away."

Twilight found herself staring at her hooves. "I can't shake the feeling that this is all just a terrible nightmare. That once this is over, I'll wake up and everything will be back to normal, and we'll see each others smiling faces again. I know that's not true, and it never can be anymore. But my heart isn't willing to let go of that delusion."

Taking a deep breath, Twilight looked up, staring into Rarity's eyes with determination. "But we are going to get through this. I'm going to stop her. And afterwards… it will be hard. Harder than anything we've ever had to do, but we'll all be there for each other. Consider it a Pinkie Promise."

Rarity smiled, laughing slightly as she wiped away her tears. "Oh Twilight. You really are amazing, you know that?"

Twilight reached over and pulled her friend into a close hug. She honestly had no idea what she was doing, and could barely even keep herself together. But she had to keep trying, for the sake of her friends as well as herself.

"Right then," Rarity said. "I think those fritters are about done, can you get them out of the oven for me?"

* * *

The group ate their meal in relative silence. The food was good, but for all of them the recent tragedy had dulled the joys of a tasty meal.

When everyone was done, Twilight began levitating the plates from the table, ready to start cleaning up. As she moved towards the sink, she paused, noticing something odd. "Does… anyone else smell that?"

The others started sniffing at her prompt, looking around in confusion.

"There does seem to be a certain… unpleasant odor in the air," Rarity said, wrinkling her nose. "It smells kind of like… something burning?"

"Ah hay," Applejack cursed, jumping up from her seat. "You don't think there's a fire, do you?"

"Blech," Rainbow Dash said, covering her nose with a hoof. "It smells like burning garbage."

Twilight hesitantly poked her head out into the hallway, looking back and forth. There wasn't an immediate conflagration or inferno waiting to greet her, so that was a plus, but the smell only seemed to get stronger.

"I think it's coming from out here, you guys," Twilight said in between coughs, her voice adopting a nasally tone as she tried to block the smell.

Motioning for the others to gather close around her, she cast a quick spell to create a bubble of clean air around them, and they set off down the hall.

Twilight had a faint inkling as to where the smell might be coming from. As she made her way there, her intuition was rewarded; faint strands of black smoke began to drift past her shield, becoming more noticeable as they got closer to the source.

"This is the door to the basement, right? Is the boiler broken or something?" Rarity asked, straining to see through the clouds of black smoke wafting up from the stairwell.

Twilight lit her horn, focusing it into a strong beam of light to at least pierce the cloud somewhat. "We were just down there earlier when searching the place, but I didn't see anything weird."

Worried about the structural integrity of the staircase, Twilight instead spread her wings, floating down into the basement below.

There was neither a wave of immense heat nor roar of flames, and once she got a clear view through the smoke it was as Rarity had guessed. The large boiler unit in the back was spewing clouds of smoke, a soft light emanating from within.

"It's safe," she called up the stairs, and the others quickly trotted down.

"I remember there being a back door to the garden in here," Applejack said as she moved through the room. "I'll go open that up, and Rainbow can give us a little wing power to blow the smoke outside instead."

As the two set to clear out the room, Twilight moved to inspect the boiler itself. Would a machine like this just start randomly malfunctioning? Now of all times? Or was this more foul play?

Swallowing, Twilight gripped the handle with her telekinesis and pulled the boiler open, releasing a fresh wave of obscuring smoke.

As Rainbow's wind power kicked into full gear the contents of the boiler were revealed.

The inside of the boiler was littered with charred bones, ash, and scraps of what was most certainly once organic material.

_No, this can't be…_

Twilight stood there with her mouth open, feeling numb. Was this really happening again? Even after everything she had promised herself and her friends, was some other pony dead? Was it…

_Wait._

Twilight blinked, taking a closer look at the scattering of bones inside. They were of all different shapes and sizes, ribs, femurs, flanges and hip bones. None of them really matched.

Twilight felt a surge of relief wash through her body at her observation, followed by a pang of guilt at feeling relieved. These animals surely didn't deserve their fate either.

"What's in there, Twilight? I can't see from here," Rarity asked, trying to wave the smoke out of her face.

"Burned animal carcasses," Twilight answered. "Mostly bones at this point."

"You serious?" Applejack asked as she came back from the door. "Who the hay would stuff a bunch of poor critters into a boiler like that? That's just sick."

"I think we know who," Rarity spat.

"I'm fairly certain that the animals were dead before they were incinerated. Whether our culprit killed them herself or not is up for question as well. But judging by this rather macabre display, and the fact that we didn't notice anything when we first came through here… she wanted us to find this," Twilight said.

Applejack growled, her eyes darting around the room. "This is gettin' mighty ridiculous. First that darn letter tauntin' you, and now a buncha dead animals. And fer what? She tryin' to scare us or something?"

Taking a deep breath Applejack called out loudly. "Why don't you get yer golden behind out here and show yerself so we can all settle this mare to mare!"

Her words hung in the air, echoing faintly in the enclosed basement, and as expected, had no response. Rarity simply moved over and nuzzled her fiancé, her proximity causing Applejack to blush slightly and simmer down.

"It just doesn't make any sense," Twilight said, frowning. "She's trying to play some sick game with me, but I don't even know the rules, or what she's after. Even when I-"

Twilight froze, her breath catching in her throat as she caught sight of a strange bone out of the corner of her eye. That couldn't be... could it?

Gingerly she reached out with her telekinesis and lifted the long, cylindrical, pointed object out of the ashes. Even though it was slightly melted, the ribs along its length and its dark color spoke volumes about where it came from.

It was a unicorn's horn.

In a panic, Twilight began sifting through the rest of bones, looking for another horn of similar size. Her frantic telekinetic grabs kicked up dust and ash, which skimmed across her shield and around the room, prompting coughing fits from the ponies too far away to be protected by her shield.

"There's only one…" Twilight said, letting out a sigh of relief as she finished searching through the bones, even as tears began to well up in her eyes again.

"Just what is it you found in there that's got you kicking up all this dust, Twilight?" Applejack asked in between sneezes.

Wordlessly, Twilight turned around and levitated the horn up so everypony could see.

"Is that…" Applejack said, her mouth falling open in shock."

"Princess Luna?" Rarity finished with a small voice.

"It certainly seems that way," Twilight said, letting her head sink. Compared to the sheer terror and sorrow she had felt when discovering Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, this new discovery bruised a dull aching into her heart. She really had failed.

"They… she could still be alive… right?" Rarity asked, her eyes pleading for a tiny hope.

"It's possible, I suppose," Twilight said, shuddering involuntarily at the thought of her horn being chopped off. "And I checked. It's just the horn; none of the other bones in there belong to ponies. And there was only the one horn."

It was slim, but without knowing the true fate of both sisters, it was possible anything could still happen. As long as that tiny sliver of chance still existed, Twilight could hold out for a miracle.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Applejack asked, her voice wavering.

"First… we should clean this mess up. I don't know what exactly happened to these animals, but the least we could do is give them a proper burial," Twilight said.

The four of them quickly got to work, Twilight and Rarity used their magic to clean out the boiler while Rainbow Dash and Applejack dug some quick holes outside. While normal winter conditions would make the ground nearly impenetrable, the natural hot springs in the garden left the soil soft and pliable.

Thirty minutes later, the group stood around the hole as Twilight slowly began to levitate the dirt back into it.

"Should… somepony say something?" Rainbow Dash asked.

After a few moments where no one spoke up, Twilight nodded and stepped forward herself.

"I can't say I knew these animals… but I'm willing to bet that Fluttershy did. For whatever reason, she loved it here in this mansion. She loved this garden, and I'm sure that these animals were a big part of that. I'm sure that Fluttershy showed them the love and kindness they never would have normally received in an isolated place like this, and I'm sure they were happy."

The four hung their heads in silence as Twilight filled the last of the hole, marking the spot with a small cairn of stones.

"I… don't mean to sound insensitive or anything, but does it seem off to anypony that we're burying these animals when we haven't even buried our friends yet?" Rarity asked, her eyes watering.

Twilight shook her head. "It's fine, Rarity. Even beyond the need to keep the crime scene intact… I don't want Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy to stay here. They deserve to be laid to rest in Ponyville."

The shed was visible from where they all stood, still covered in the shield Twilight had put over it earlier. They were all doing their best to ignore it.

"We should… probably head back to the study for now," Twilight said, her voice low.

She levitated Luna's horn along with her. She couldn't bring herself to bury it. There was the chance that Luna was still alive, and if so, she might want it back.

She had to hold on to that hope.

* * *

Twilight let out a sigh, sniffling slightly. This was certainly heavy stuff. It hadn't taken her by surprise this time, but it still weighed deeply on her heart, fictional narrative or no.

When Twilight looked up from the book to glance at Fluttershy the pegasus winced, ducking as if she expected another outburst.

Twilight found herself laughing slightly at her friend's reaction. "It's okay, Fluttershy. I'm not mad."

"Oh. Um, that's good," Fluttershy said, blushing slightly and allowing a small smile to return to her face.

Glancing back at the book, Twilight found herself frowning. The more she read, the more puzzle pieces were introduced, but it was like she was trying to put together a puzzle without having the picture on the box. And there weren't any edge pieces.

"Oh, just a note on something I noticed earlier," Twilight said, turning her attention back to Fluttershy. "Bones don't melt."

"Huh?" Fluttershy asked, looking confused.

"There was a passage earlier that described Luna's horn as 'slightly melted'. But bones don't melt, they just burn. Especially at the temperatures you'd find in a standard boiler unit," Twilight said.

"O-oh…" Fluttershy stammered, her eyes going wide. "Is, um… that so?"

Twilight nodded, launching into explanation mode. "Right. Bones are actually quite durable, and the calcium and other inorganic materials make it so they don't melt. They'll turn to ash at a high enough temperature, otherwise just blacken and char."

Fluttershy continued to stare at Twilight for a few moments, before forcing a smile. "Um, thank you for noticing?"

Twilight blushed slightly, looking away. "I mean, it's a minor descriptive thing really. You can edit that out easily enough later."

A silence fell in the air and Fluttershy continued to regard Twilight as if she were expecting something more. When nothing came, her forced smile disappeared and she nodded softly.

"That's, uh, an interesting observation Twilight. I'll keep that in mind."

Twilight let out a sigh. Why was she being so nitpicky about something like this? She needed to focus on the things that mattered in the novel, scope out the clues, and solve the mystery.

But was it still a mystery? Sure, there were murders and mysterious happenings, but everything in the novel seemed to be shifting more into the slant of an adventure story where she would defeat the evil alicorn, Golden Wish. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it kind of pulled the rug out from under what the story had been building up to.

Twilight almost thought to ask Fluttershy for a hint or maybe some clarification to set her on the right path, but that somehow felt like cheating. She should approach what was written with an open mind, and figure it out on her own terms.

Fluttershy would certainly appreciate it.


	8. Chapter 7: En Passant

They were able to reach the study without incident, and Twilight found that her alarm spell was just as she'd left it. While it was a good thing the wards remained uncompromised, she slightly wished that somepony had been foolish enough to trigger it instead, so she could have caught them in the act.

Even with her magical precautions in place, Twilight still entered the room cautiously, her horn at the ready in case something was waiting for them in the shadows. When they confirmed that the study was empty and just as they had left it, she felt the tension drain out of her.

"Well, we made it back in one piece," Twilight said, then immediately winced at her phrasing as she placed Luna's horn up on a desk.

"I suppose that's one thing we should be thankful for," Rarity said, laughing bitterly.

"So just what are we supposed to be doin' now?" Applejack asked as she moved through the study, tracking mud from her earlier exertions across the carpet.

Rarity flinched back, scrunching up her nose at her fiancé. "How about you take a bath?"

"What? Are you fer… This ain't the time nor the place hon. We need a plan of action, not to be clean!" Applejack shouted, pulling back and angrily stomping a mud covered hoof for emphasis.

"Like what!?" Rarity shouted back, her eyes full of fire and tears. "Sit around and wait until some unstoppable alicorn witch chops off my horn and feeds it to you!? She's already gotten to Celestia and Luna, what can we possibly do, hm? If we're going to die horribly, we might as well look good doing it!"

Applejack stood there, her mouth hanging open at Rarity's words.

"Enough!" Twilight shouted, flashing a bright light from her horn to get everypony's attention. "I know how stressed you are – we all are – but we can't afford to do this now." Glaring at both of them until they blushed in shame, Twilight continued. "Besides, I have a plan."

"Wait, seriously?" Rainbow Dash asked, perking up.

"Well," Twilight began. "It's pretty obvious no matter how hard we look, we're probably not going to find her. And she doesn't seem to be willing to face us head on, either, or she would have tried it by now. What does that tell you?"

After a brief pause, Applejack raised a hoof. "That uh, she's scared of all of us together. Otherwise, she'd be done with it, right?"

Twilight nodded, smiling. "That's correct. And, judging by her tactics so far, she wants to demoralize us; to keep us cowering in fear till the stress breaks us. It's not like villains haven't tried similar tactics on us in the past."

With a pained grimace, Twilight walked over to the study window and looked out over the garden. "Though none of them have ever been so… effective."

Shaking her head to clear out her malaise, she continued. "So if we can't go to her, and she won't come to us, then what can we do?"

"That would be the waiting to die part I mentioned earlier, darling," Rarity said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We set a trap!" Twilight said excitedly, ignoring Rarity's snark.

"A trap? How the hay is that supposed to work? What could we possibly use as bait?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" Twilight faltered, looking away. "It would be really dangerous."

"So one of us has to pretend to be alone and helpless, and when she shows up, the others all jump in quickly. Is that what you're saying?" Rarity asked.

"In a sense," Twilight said. "I have a few ideas on how to make sure the pony stays absolutely safe. Rarity, can you sense any gems in this room?"

"Gems?" Rarity asked, looking confused. "I suppose I can check."

Rarity closed her eyes and lit up her horn, focusing. "It seems like there's a decently sized cache of them in that lower drawer over there. I can only assume it belongs to the princesses."

"Perfect!" Twilight said, as she trotted over to the drawer in question and began rifling through it. "These are exactly what I need. Thanks, Rarity!"

"Uh, I don't really think this is a good idea, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said, not meeting her eyes. "Do you really think something so… simple would really work?"

Twilight frowned, looking Rainbow Dash up and down. "What's the matter with you, Rainbow? I would have figured you'd be chomping at the bit for something this."

"I just…" Rainbow Dash bit her lip and looked away. "It's nothing. Forget it. I'll play bait if you want me too; I can get away the fastest after all."

"Well, you weren't my first suggestion, but I guess that works," Twilight said, turning back to the others.

"Anyway, I'm going to need some time to prepare. Maybe an hour or two, so make yourselves comfortable."

After Twilight levitated the gems over to a nearby table and had begun her work, Rarity turned to Applejack, blushing. "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that earlier. Everything just seems so… hopeless."

Applejack smiled, bowing her head slightly before looking back up and giving Rarity a peck on the cheek. "It's alright, hon. None of us are at our best right now, but we gotta keep trying."

With a light smile, Rarity turned around and took a few steps before turning back and looking Applejack up and down. "Since we apparently have the time now, I don't suppose I could convince you to take that bath after all? I could use one myself, if you don't mind sharing."

Blushing furiously, Applejack swallowed and began to stammer, but suddenly stood up straight as if struck by lightning, her face transforming into an unreadable mask. "I'd… like that, hon. There's, uh, something I've been wanting to tell you for awhile now, anyway. Seems like a good opportunity," she said stiffly.

Rarity frowned at the sudden change in mood, but decided to go along with it anyway. The two moved into the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

* * *

Twilight worked on her newest project in peace and quiet. She was glad for the lack of distractions, but the silence that hung over the room was heavy and unwelcome. Rainbow Dash just kept staring out the window, not saying a word as the sky darkened outside.

As she finished etching runes into the first of the gemstones she was working on, Twilight stepped away from the table, glancing over at her friend.

"Hey, Rainbow… You feeling alright?"

Rainbow Dash turned around slowly, fixing Twilight with a blank expression for several uncomfortably long moments before mumbling, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Putting her work aside, Twilight moved over to the window next to Dash and slung her wing over her shoulder. "It's okay, you know. We're all trying to be strong here, but there's no shame in letting it out. Fluttershy wouldn't want you to bottle everything up."

Rainbow Dash snorted and barked out an angry laugh. "Yeah, right." Pulling away from Twilight's embrace, she moved over to the fireplace and sat down. "Just leave me alone, Twi. I don't wanna talk about it."

Twilight winced at the stinging words, but she doubted pushing would get her any farther. Rainbow Dash had always been so close to both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. _Everypony deals with grief in their own way._

"Well, alright then," Twilight said, turning back to the table. "In any case, since you volunteered to be the bait, let me explain how these things work."

Rainbow Dash gave a nod of acknowledgement, so Twilight levitated one of the completed gems over to the two of them. "The simple version is this – smash this gem with your hoof and it will set off an alarm notifying me of the exact location, and I can teleport there to spring the trap."

Grinning at her own genius, Twilight continued, "Of course, due to the nature of our opponent, something like that wouldn't help if she gets the jump on you, so there are two failsafes as well. Once activated, the alarm will go off in five minutes, unless you tap on it two times with your hoof to reset the timer. And, on top of that, the alarm should go off if anypony uses magic within ten meters of the gem."

"That's… actually pretty well thought out, "Rainbow Dash said, looking surprised. "Though I still don't think this is going to work."

"I…" Twilight faltered, looking away. "Look, this is still a definite long shot, so you don't have to do it if you don't want to. I don't want to put you in danger, and we really have no idea what our opponent is capable of."

Rainbow Dash turned towards Twilight, grinning weakly. "Hey, come on, Twi. I'm Rainbow 'Danger' Dash, remember? I could probably handle this even without your fancy trinket."

"Then how come you don't think my plan will work?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, well," Rainbow's grin faded, her previously melancholic demeanor returning. "I just don't think she'll actually show up. That's all."

"Well, I'm open to suggestions if you've got any," Twilight said, frowning.

"I…" Rainbow Dash paused, holding Twilight's gaze for a silent minute, seemingly just on the verge of saying something. "It's nothing, never mind."

Twilight was about to press the issue further, but was interrupted by a crashing sound coming from the bathroom, followed by the sound of splashing water.

Readying her horn, Twilight prepared for the worst. "Are you two alright in there?"

There was the sound of scrambling hooves on a tile floor before the bathroom door was flung open and Rarity charged out, soaking wet.

"Rarity, wait!" Applejack called out, her voice desperate as she climbed out of the tub.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Rarity screamed, her eyes full of tears as she grasped a nearby chair with her magic and threw it at the door. "I don't even know who you are!"

Twilight could only stand there, mouth agape, as she watched the scene unfold before her.

"Please," Applejack said, begging. "Can't we just talk about this? I'm sorry, but there's gotta be a way this can be right."

"Right? Right!?" Rarity backed away frantically, moving towards the door. "How can you possibly expect me to forgive something like this? Our entire relationship was built on a lie from the start? What happened to being the element of honesty!?

"I…" Applejack hung her head in shame. "I still love you."

"Well apparently," Rarity paused, opening the door to the study and looking back. "I never did." Sobbing, she ran out into the hallway.

Breaking out of her stupor, Twilight rushed forward. "Wait, what are you doing? You'll die out there!"

Rarity was already around the corner and out of sight when Twilight heard her call back.

"So be it!"

"That stupid…" Twilight growled under her breath before preparing to teleport after her. _Of all the things that had to go wrong…_

With a painful crash, Twilight was thrown backwards from the wall into the table. She had forgotten about the wards on the room. Apparently they worked both ways.

As Twilight pulled herself free from the splintered wood, Applejack trotted up, pausing in the doorway. "Look, this is my mess. I better clean it up."

Twilight sputtered as she stood back up. "But we had a plan!"

"Plans change, sugarcube. We'll be the bait for now. I'm… I'm a terrible pony, Twi. Just, give me some time, alright?"

"I…" Twilight stared at Applejack incredulously. This was an incredibly bad idea. "Just take this, alright? Knock on it twice every five minutes, smash it if there's any danger, and we'll be right there.

Taking the gem from Twilight in her teeth and swinging the necklace up around her neck, Applejack galloped out into the hall, the heavy study door slowly closing on its own and locking behind her.

After a long pause, Rainbow Dash finally spoke up. "What just happened?"

"I have no idea," Twilight said, her expression still bewildered.

"I mean, I know Rarity is the overreacting type, but what could Applejack have possibly done to get a reaction like that out of her?" Rainbow Dash asked as she picked up some of the broken pieces of the table.

"You don't think it's… related to the murders, do you?" Twilight asked, dark thoughts suddenly entering her mind.

Rainbow Dash snorted dismissively. "No way. Sounds like this is something that goes way back. Anyway, what are we supposed to do now?"

Sighing, Twilight stared at the door, apprehension twisting her gut into knots. "I guess we wait."

* * *

Applejack slowed her gallop to a trot as she raced down the halls. As much as she knew she needed to get to Rarity right away, she was afraid. Afraid to see that look of hurt and betrayal. Afraid to feel the brunt of the scorn that she utterly deserved.

"Applejack, you are one stupid pony," she muttered under her breath. Right from the start, it was her mistake. Her original desperate bid for affection had grown from a tiny lie into a gaping wound in her heart. One she was reminded of every time she looked at the love of her life.

She had played her confession out a hundred times in her head. This was one of the worst possible outcomes, but one that she had always considered the most realistic. Of course, her timing had left a lot to be desired. To burden Rarity with a revelation like that, when two of their friends were dead, and a murderer stalked them in the shadows…

Coming to a complete stop, Applejack shook her head. The time for excuses was gone and past. There was no guarantee they'd even last the night. Telling her had been the right decision.

Looking up, she realized that she had come to a stop in front of the portrait of Golden Wish in the entrance hall. Feeling a fresh surge of anger, she growled under her breath, "Why can't ya just stay in pony tales where you belong, huh?"

Wheeling around, Applejack leaned forward and bucked the wall as hard as she could. The wood splintered and cracked beneath her hooves and the painting rocked back and forth. The sound of the impact echoed around the entrance hall before quietly fading away, leaving an empty silence that matched the emptiness she felt after her pointless outburst.

"Be careful what you wish for…" she muttered, hanging her head. "Not exactly an uncommon sentiment when it comes to old folklore. Guess I never took that lesson to heart."

She was about to continue on her way when she felt a strange twinge around her neck. Blinking in surprise, she realized it was the odd necklace Twilight had given her. Some sort of defensive charm?

Shrugging, she followed the instructions she was given and tapped the gem twice with a hoof, which seemed to calm the jewelry down. Easy enough.

Of course, Rarity didn't have one…

Applejack quickened her pace down the halls. When she approached the room that they were both staying in, she could hear sobbing from within. It looked like she'd guessed right.

Reaching to open the door, she hesitated, her heart seizing in her gut. What right did she really have?

There was a pause in the sobbing. After a few moments, Rarity called out, her voice hoarse. "Is somepony out there? If you're planning to murder me, could you at least make me look good?"

Applejack let out a sigh. "It's just me, Rar."

After another long pause, there was the sound of hoofsteps and the door unlocking. It glowed with the grasp of magic and opened, Rarity staring out with a dull expression.

"Well, come on in. If we're going to be out here stupidly and get killed for it, we might as well do it together."

Applejack bit her lip and followed Rarity inside, making sure to relock the door behind them.

As a heavy silence fell upon the room, Applejack continued to stare at the floor, unable to meet her gaze. "Look, I —" she began, but was cut off with a dismissive scoff from Rarity.

"You what? You're sorry? Do platitudes like that even matter anymore? I'm really not even sure how I'm supposed to respond to this," Rarity said as she began pacing about the room.

Applejack flinched at the cold anger in her words. She wasn't sure if she preferred this or the dramatic outbursts instead.

"It's just so hard to believe…" Rarity said, staring wistfully at nothing, "that the last year of my life… the best year of my life, was all based on a lie, an illusion. It certainly felt real." Rarity turned to Applejack, her eyes glistening as she let out a sigh. "It still does."

Swallowing, Applejack spoke up, trying to find the right words. "I reckon I don't actually know whether it worked or not. Could've just been a crazy coincidence, and I lucked out that you felt the same. But the fact that I still tried… even though I didn't think through the implications at the time… it's still unforgivable."

Rarity shook her head, smiling painfully. "I certainly remember how I felt back then. Perhaps my memories really were altered. But if such a power truly exists, we could just as easily question the reality of anything, could we not?"

Applejack snorted, a short laugh escaping from her in spite of it all. "Hold on there now, hon. If we start to get into a philosophical debate on what's real and what isn't, Twilight will come bursting through the door waving books around that are thicker than my head."

Unable to help themselves, they both burst out laughing, the joyful sound washing away some of the accumulated tension hanging in the air.

"I certainly..." Rarity started, but trailed off, her smile fading as she pursed her lips. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you darling, but," with a sigh, Rarity shook her head and smiled. "I still love you."

Those words – those four wonderful words struck Applejack like a hammer blow to her heart, filling her with both boundless hope and immense shame. Just like they had when she'd first bared her heart to the mare she loved one year ago.

"I love you too," Applejack said, her eyes beginning to mist over. "Even if I don't deserve you."

"You're right," Rarity scoffed, putting up false airs. "You don't deserve me. I guess I'm just too generous for my own good."

Applejack chuckled weakly, pawing at the ground. Even though she knew she was just being teased, the wounds were still too fresh and the words stung.

"I suppose the wedding is called off for now," Applejack mumbled, trying to play her concern off as a joke.

"Well, I don't know about that," Rarity said, a twinkle in her eye. "You know, they say intent is everything. When you propose, you promise to be with that pony for the rest of your life, through thick and thin. As long as you both feel the same, you might as well be married already, right? At that time, I was beyond happy. Even if we had both been struck dead a day after you proposed, our souls would still be joined as one."

"I…" Applejack worked her mouth, her throat suddenly dry. "I reckon a promise made under false pretenses ain't no promise at all."

"In that case," Rarity said, smiling coyly as she sunk to her knees. "Will you, Applejack, deign to marry me and do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Applejack's mouth dropped open in shock. She didn't deserve this. After what she had done, the lie she had based it all on, here she was, this wonderful mare, still willing to have her. Tears rolling down her face, she managed to choke out "I do."

"Good!" Rarity said curtly, as if she was simply closing up a business deal. "You may now kiss the bride."

As their lips met, the dam broke in Applejack. Everything she'd been holding back came rushing out and she began sobbing like a filly.

* * *

A short time later the two rested on the bed, nuzzling against each other.

"It's not fair," Applejack mumbled, her face buried in her fiancé's coat.

"Hmm? What's that, darling?" Rarity asked, looking up.

"When I proposed to you, I did it all fancy like; had everything planned for months, and the five star dinner and…"

Laughing, Rarity elbowed her in the ribs. "Quiet you."

Applejack pulled back slightly so she could look Rarity in the eyes and gave her a soft smile. "So this is it, huh? Together until the end?"

Rarity leaned in and kissed her on the lips lightly. "Together. Forever and always."

* * *

Twilight paced back and forth around the study, her eyes frequently flicking to the clock on the wall.

"This is getting ridiculous. Something should've happened by now. Either Applejack forgets to activate the device or Rarity accidentally uses her magic and sets it off or…" Twilight trailed off, grimacing. "We should go check on them. Don't you think we should go check on them? Ugh, this was a bad idea!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, flopping backwards onto the couch. "For the last time, Twi, I'm sure they're fine. Applejack and Rarity are both capable ponies, they can handle themselves. And, if a trap is going to be a trap, we can't just back out because we got cold hooves."

"But it's also true that you need to know what is and what isn't an acceptable risk. If you can use your pawns as bait to lure out and capture an opponent's queen, that's all well and good, but if you have to sacrifice a bishop or a knight, then it might not always be in your best interests and," Twilight stopped, her eyes going wide. "Okay wow, I REALLY shouldn't think about my friends in terms like that."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, looking Twilight up and down. "Who are you trying to convince here, Twilight? If you want to call the whole thing off, just do it. It's not like I'm going to stop you either way." With a pause, she added, "Besides, you're looking at it the wrong way. Nopony's going to sacrifice a Queen just to take out a knight or a bishop. Not without either being a total newb or having a good combo set up, anyway."

Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash, her mouth hanging open. "Just how do you know…?"

She froze, smacking her face with her hoof. Rainbow was right, of course. You can't bait an action just by leaving a piece seemingly open with a counterattack prepared to strike. You have to threaten on multiple fronts and arrange things so any move your opponent takes has at least some negative outcome.

"We need to go get Applejack and Rarity and think this through a lot better," Twilight said, turning towards the door.

"Alright, whatever you say," Rainbow Dash said, yawning as she got up from the couch. "Where do you think they went?"

"I'm not sure. Where would Rarity go after running out like that?" Twilight levitated the paired gem up from the table. She was about to sling it around her neck when it suddenly flashed green and emitted a high pitched whine.

"That's the timer alarm," Twilight said, a sudden pang of fear lancing through her heart. She almost teleported right away, but remembered her mistake from earlier. "I think she's in their shared room, let's go!"

"I'm on it," Rainbow said, already opening the door. "I'll meet you there!"

"Wait, we should go together!" Twilight called out after Rainbow, but she was already gone. Growling under her breath, she quickly galloped out into the hallway outside of the study's protections, and focused on the gem, preparing to teleport to the signature it gave off.

With a flash she disappeared and found herself face to face with Golden Wish herself.

Or the portrait of her, anyway. As soon as she recovered from the initial shock, Twilight looked around frantically and realized she was in the entrance hall. There was no sign of anypony else.

Had she overshot? Were the coordinates in the gem wrong? Or had she just been thinking too strongly about Golden Wish? With a lump in her throat, she wheeled to the right and galloped down the hall towards Rarity's room.

As she rounded the corner, she could see the door was already open. Rainbow Dash would have beaten here there of course and –

Twilight skidded to a halt as she entered the room, her breath frozen in her throat.

The room was in total disarray. Pillows were thrown about, dresses were torn to shreds, and the dresser mirror was shattered, pieces of glass strewn across the floor.

The chaos of the room contrasted with the peace of the couple within. Applejack and Rarity lay together on the bed, their heads resting on each other's shoulders, smiling softly. They looked for all the world, like the quintessential happy couple napping together.

Rainbow Dashed turned to look at Twilight, her eyes wide and lip quivering. "Twi… I got here as fast as I could, but…"

The blood dripped down from the soaked bedsheets, and was beginning to pool around Rainbow Dash's hooves.

In an instant, Twilight was at the bedside, her hooves reaching down to examine the pair. They were still warm, but there was so much blood… it was already a foregone conclusion.

"There's no pulse," Twilight heard herself say in a strangely dry tone.

"So… they're dead. For real. Rarity and Applejack are actually dead…" Rainbow Dash stared down at the two corpses, her mouth continuing to move soundlessly even after she finished speaking.

Twilight lowered her head, firing up her horn and inspecting the corpses closer. As she did so, there was a blue flash and a high pitched whine as Applejacks gem reacted to the nearby magic.

"Both of them have deep wounds severing their left and right brachial arteries. With a precise wound like that, a pony will bleed out in a matter of minutes without immediate medical intervention," Twilight announced coldly.

She felt… strangely self aware. There was the odd disconnect in knowing that she should be utterly crushed by despair right now. Two more of her friends were dead. Only one remained. Neither of them would probably last much longer. She had failed, utterly and irrevocably.

But all she felt was a strange emptiness. The numbness inside was like a surrender to the hopeless inevitability of the near future.

"Rainbow Dash, was the door still locked when you got here? Did you have to bust in? And did you happen to see any weapons or cutting tools lying around?" Twilight asked as she finished her inspection of the corpses.

"Huh? I… Yes? Er, wait, no? I…" Rainbow Dash choked on her words, her eyes brimming with tears. She swallowed, and tried to focus her thoughts before speaking again. "I didn't see any weapons."

_Closed room._ A voice bubbled up from the depths of Twilight's memories, noting a pattern. Both sets of murders, and even the strange incident with the library had taken place in a closed room, as if this were the plot in some mystery novel.

Of course, when the culprit is a psychopathic alicorn dragon-witch who can apparently skirt by the very laws of magic, the presence of locks on doors and magic detecting trinkets doesn't matter much, does it?

Twilight looked over to Rainbow and jumped with a start, her stupor momentarily forgotten. "Rainbow, you're…" A trickle of blood ran down the side of Rainbow's mouth. Had she bitten her tongue that hard?

"I…" Rainbow Dash bowed her head, scrunching her eyes up tight. "Not like this. Not anymore."

She slowly looked up at Twilight, a fierce growl boiling from within her. "I'm going to fix this, Twi. Somehow. I'm sorry. You might want to find some cover."

"Rainbow, what are you talking about?" Twilight asked, reaching a forehoof out to her friend but catching only air as Rainbow sped off, out into the hallway and around the corner. "Wait!"

Twilight chased after her, pausing in the doorframe to look back at her recently departed friends. It felt bad to just leave them like this, but she couldn't risk losing another.

Following the afterimages of rainbow contrails, Twilight quickly ascertained that Rainbow had gone outside and teleported out to the front steps in order to catch up.

Before she could even get her bearings, she felt her ears pop as the air suddenly spun around her. The magic of her shield began to shatter and dissipate and the storm suddenly rushed back into the mansion, no longer held at bay.

"Rainbow Dash…"

* * *

Rainbow Dash slammed into Twilight's shield with all her might, straining for a moment before it shattered above her hooves and she shot into the waiting blizzard.

The sudden disruption in the atmosphere made her ascent even harder, but they didn't call her the best flyer in Equestria for nothing.

Even as the cold winds battered her furiously, trying with all their might to knock her out of the sky, she continued climbing up and up. Just as icicles began to form on her wings, she burst through the top layer of cloud cover, exiting the storm and basking momentarily in the radiance of the stars and the moon.

Still she needed to fly higher. So she kept going up until the air was so thin she could barely breathe. She hovered there, the cold biting deep into her as she looked down on the world below.

While normally she would feel utterly free this high up in the air, like an escape from all earthly responsibilities, this time she could almost see the golden chains dragging her to the ground, forcing her to face reality.

"So much for loyalty," she muttered, her voice absorbed by the howling winds of the upper atmosphere.

As she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, Rainbow Dash allowed herself to drop, swiftly shifting into a proper dive.

There wasn't exactly an elegant solution to this. But elegance had never been her specialty, after all. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. So why not solve it by doing what she was best at?

As she picked up speed, she could feel the traditional strain and pull of the air before she burst into a sonic rainboom. In the past, performing one took every ounce of strength she had, but now they were commonplace. Almost boring.

This next part would be new, though. She banked, twisting her downward dive into a rotating spiral, the wind slowly beginning to swirl around her. Right as she was about to hit the cloud cover below, she began to spin, blasting through the clouds and angling herself to use the whipping winds of the storm to her advantage.

The clouds were pulled towards the rainbow drill of contrails as Rainbow Dash crafted her tornado, directing the most powerful, destructive might the weather could offer on the mansion below.

What would this really accomplish? Was it just a futile act of rage against a hopeless fate? She wasn't really even sure at this point, but it was already far too late to stop.

She knew Twilight would never forgive her, but annihilating the object of their sorrow might bring some form of peace to both ponies. And hey, there was still the chance everything would work out in the end.

Holding onto that bitter hope, Rainbow Dash continued to spin round and round, almost breaking through the storm cover below. The whipping winds and snow forced her to squint as hard as she could, barely able to see. With a pained laugh, she realized this would be a lot easier had she taken a few extra seconds to grab her goggles before flying up here.

Had she bothered to do so, she might have noticed the golden flash speeding towards her as she entered the sky above the mansion.

Red clouded her vision as a sharp pain lanced across her chest. She tumbled from her carefully controlled spin, the tornado dissipating in a flash of colors.

As the ground rushed towards her, she could just barely make out Twilight, a glowing purple speck in the distance.

_I'm sorry._


	9. Chapter 8: Checkmate

Twilight stared upwards; the whipping winds and darkening sky made it almost impossible to see. The cold wind bit deeply into her body, and her mind felt equally as numb. What was she doing? What was she supposed to do? Was there anything she could do anymore?

Focusing her magic, she called forth enough light to illuminate all the way up to the cloud cover, a veritable spotlight shining from her horn. She swung her head left and right, desperately scanning the clouds for any sign of where her last friend had gone.

A disturbance in the clouds caught her attention, a small section above the mansion beginning to swirl around unnaturally. As she focused her light and attention on the abnormality, it grew in intensity, speeding up and bulging downwards, streaks of colored light starting to flash along the edges.

_That has to be Rainbow Dash, but what in Equestria is she…?_

The clouds spun faster, the protrusion becoming more conical and more colorful. Then she could see it. The spinning cyan blur who pulled a tornado down from the clouds, directing all the fury of the storm to smite the mansion below.

"She must be crazy!" Twilight found herself screaming, her words completely swallowed by the torrent of wind. She wasn't sure if she should try to stop this or just duck and cover.

As she focused her light to track Rainbow Dash, everything suddenly broke. The tornado fell apart as fast as it has appeared and in an instant, Rainbow was no longer flying downwards, but falling to the ground. Fast.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called out. She frantically launched herself into the air in an attempt to reach her friend, but was unable to make any headway against the storm. With a sickening dread, she watched Rainbow plunge into the fields of snow outside of the mansion.

Even after five years of being an alicorn flying still wasn't her strong suite, but Twilight summoned every scrap of strength, skill, and speed she had in order to make it over to where Rainbow had landed as quickly as possible

"Where is she…?" Twilight muttered, frantically scanning the snow below her as she struggled to stay aloft. "Rainbow Dash! If you can hear me, please say something!"

There was no response but the howling wind. Her heart caught in her throat as she happened to catch a few flecks of rapidly vanishing red in the snow below.

_Please no._

Following the trail she spotted it: a pony sized mound of snow. Lifting the snow with her telekinesis, she found the battered and broken form of Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash's chest was streaked with red and her left wing was twisted at an unnatural angle, but a wave of relief washed over Twilight when she saw that her chest was still rising and falling.

_She's still alive… I'm not too late._

Of course, all that could change in a heartbeat if she didn't act quickly. She had studied both healing magic and first aid, but had no practical experience with either. The latter was far safer to use untrained, and she had no choice but to try. There were a few tricks she had read about that she could use to stabilize a pony, even without any supplies.

Enveloping both herself and Rainbow Dash in a telekinetic field, she lifted the pegasus while pulling out a large number of her own wing feathers, biting her lip as her eyes teared up from the pain. Quickly weaving the feathers into a makeshift poultice, she pressed it hard against Rainbow Dash to staunch the bleeding.

Of course she couldn't fly like this now, so she focused her energy on her hooves. Her step lightened enough so that she could walk on the snow while floating Rainbow Dash steadily behind her.

It was easy going at first, but each step soon became laborious. The wind peeled at her coat like it was trying to strip it all away, and the snow in her eyes made sight nearly impossible. Her constant use of magic was beginning to take its toll as well. Even as an alicorn princess whose special talent was magic, she had her limits, and the stress of everything certainly wasn't doing her any favors.

She had to keep moving. She had to get inside and treat Rainbow Dash's wounds properly. The normally tough as steel pegasus that floated behind her felt as weak as a newborn foal in her grasp. She could feel Rainbow's faint heartbeat as her own worked double time, covering for both exhaustion and panic.

The magical energy that linked them suddenly felt like so much more. It was a tenuous connection to Dash's life, an anchor holding down the last vestiges of Twilight's sanity. She had to keep moving. _Just put one hoof in front of the other._

_One hoof, in front of… _With a yelp of surprise, Twilight's next step found no footing underneath and she found herself tumbling forward. As fear raced through her heart, she pushed out with her magic even as she fell, attempting to keep Rainbow Dash from being pulled down with her.

Groaning, she slowly pushed herself back up, wincing as her body complained in protest. The ground under hooves was warm and soft. She must have tripped over the threshold where her shield had been previously holding back the storm.

Gingerly she pulled Rainbow Dash down from the sky, bringing her in close. Rainbow Dash whimpered softly, her body shivering underneath Twilight's magic.

"It's going to be okay Rainbow," Twilight said, her teeth clenched as she struggled forward. "We're almost there. I just need you to keep holding on, okay?"

She could finally see it up ahead now, the soft light of the mansion spilling out from the front door she had left open.

When she made it inside her legs threatened to give way beneath her, but just to the entry hall wasn't far enough. She needed to get back to the study. She was sure she would find medical supplies there.

Rainbow Dash let out another pained whimper as Twilight began to ascend the stairs. The accumulated snow on Twilight's fur was beginning to melt, and the returning warmth to her skin underneath felt like tiny daggers piercing into her flesh.

She passed by Rarity and Applejack on the way there, steeling her stomach and daring to take a glance. The couple was just as she'd left them, sleeping peacefully in the embrace of death.

They would be together forever now, and Twilight was almost jealous. She wanted to go to them, to scream, to howl, to wail in rage at the cruelty of fate and the pony that had done this, but she had no tears left to shed.

She had to save Rainbow Dash.

Out of breath, she reached the door to the study and fumbled with the keys, pulling it open. The first thing she noticed was the gold trimmed letter sitting on the center desk. Fresh panic gripped her heart and her eyes swept the room frantically, looking for any hidden enemy waiting in the shadows.

When no threat presented itself, she carefully lowered Rainbow Dash to the floor by the fireplace, laying her on top of some cushions. Her chest rose and fell slowly, drawing ragged, pained breaths.

After carefully double checking the rest of the study for danger, Twilight gathered up the medical supplies she was hoping for and set to work in sterilizing and properly bandaging Rainbow Dash's wounds. A ponyfeather poultice was really rather unsanitary, and should only be used in emergencies.

The cut in Rainbow's side was long, but shallow. Twilight couldn't tell exactly what had caused it. It might have been from an edged weapon of sorts, but it was hard to see how something like that would have struck her in the air. She could also have been caught on a particularly sharp ice crystal or rock during her landing.

It was grueling work, and her own exhaustion still called to her, but over the course of an hour she managed to stitch Rainbow's wound rather crudely, and set her broken wing into a splint.

Any medical professional would have been disgusted at her handiwork. All Twilight knew was the theory, and she had never had a chance to put these skills into use. Even untrained, Rarity probably could've handled the needlework better, and Fluttershy was used to patching up wounded animals on a regular basis.

_You did what you could… it's up to Rainbow Dash now._ Reaching out, Rainbow Dash was warm under her hoof. _She must already be running a fever_. Unfortunately, the basic medical supplies she had found had not included antibiotics.

Standing up even as her legs protested, she wondered if she could find the necessary components to synthesize some in here. That would probably be too much of a stretch, but it's not like she had anything better to do. Before she could even begin the search, however, her eyes fell upon the new letter waiting on the table.

"I guess I'm supposed to read that," Twilight muttered out loud. Was how this one got in here just as much of a mystery as the previous letter? As she reached for the letter, she realized her mistake. She had forgotten to reset her alarm spell when she last left. So, anypony with the key could've simply walked on in. And who knew how many copies of the key there were, or who all had them?

Unlike the arrogant taunting found in the first letter, this one was short and simple, printed on the same stationary with the same neat handwriting.

"Meet me in the entrance hall at midnight."

So that was it, huh? She would finally get the confrontation she wanted. It had only cost her the lives of most of her friends to do so. She didn't even have the energy to summon up the righteous rage or thirst for justice she knew would be appropriate right now. All she could do was laugh softly, her eyes glistening with tears she no longer had the strength to shed.

Twilight glanced over to the clock. It looked like she still had a few hours before midnight. Enough time to make sure Rainbow Dash would stay stable, at least. It was most certainly a trap, and the board was no longer in her favor. But what other options did she have at this point?

Twilight moved back over to Rainbow Dash's side. The pegasus was shivering, despite her proximity to the fire. After taking the time to drape a blanket over her, Twilight settled down next to Rainbow Dash on a pair of cushions. As soon as she felt herself get comfortable, the exhaustion she'd been holding off crashed into her full force, threatening to pull her under.

_Not yet… I have too…_

Twilight opened her eyes, groaning slightly as the burning sensation in her exhausted muscles reasserted itself. Yawning, she reached up with a hoof and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. How long had she been asleep?

"Rainbow Dash!" she cried out, jumping into the air and looking around frantically. She stumbled slightly, the sudden movement causing the blood to rush to her head and a wave of dizziness washed over her.

As she struggled to regain her bearings, she felt movement by her side, and a faint groan. Rainbow Dash was still alive.

After taking a few moments to steady her breathing and calm her nerves, Twilight knelt down next to her friend, placing a hoof on her forehead. She was still burning up, and her skin looked pale under her fur.

Twilight went to the bathroom to get a cup of water, pausing to check the time as she did so. Half an hour till midnight. She hadn't slept through her appointment after all.

"Here Rainbow Dash. You need to drink this. Easy now…" Twilight cradled Dash's head with her telekinesis, slowly bringing the cup to her lips and coaxing the feverish pegasus to drink.

Rainbow coughed and sputtered slightly, but greedily swallowed the rest of the offered water.

"Twilight…" Rainbow mumbled, her voice a croaking whisper. "Mmm'sorry."

"Ssshh. It'll be okay." Twilight ran her hoof through Rainbow's mane, stroking it in the same way her mother used to do for her when she was sick. "You just need to rest. I have to go do something real quick, okay? But I promise I'll be back, and when I do, this will all be over."

Twilight got up to leave, but paused when she heard Rainbow Dash call out again, her voice faint. "Be careful."

Fifteen minutes to go. It wouldn't hurt to arrive a little early, right? Exiting the study, and making sure to re-ward the door as strongly as she could, she teleported to the entrance hall.

The room was empty, the soft lamplight casting shadows across the portrait of her nemesis while the storm outside raged against the windows.

She had no idea what she was truly up against, and had to be ready for anything. But as she stared at the portrait on the wall, that offending face seemed to twist into a leering grin under the shadows, and her blood began to boil with an all too welcome rage.

Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy. Applejack. Rarity. Princess Celestia. Princess Luna. Rainbow Dash. She was here and ready to fight. For all of their sakes, and for her own. To get revenge. To get answers. To get justice.

Tears glistened in her eyes as she clenched her teeth, the adrenaline rushing through her veins erasing her earlier fatigue. "Well? I'm here now, Golden Wish! I don't know why you've done this. Why you've killed my friends. What you want with me. But you've succeeded. You wanted me. Now come and get me!"

Her voice reverberated throughout the mansion, amplified by both her magic and her anger. With a snarl, she focused her magic on the painting before her, tearing it from its hangings with ease and pulling it down to float in front of her.

With a simple flick of her horn, the painting crumpled into a pretzel; splinters of wood and shreds of canvas raining down in front of her. Another change of focus and the mangled artwork burst into flame, burning blindingly hot for just a few seconds until only ash remained.

"Come out! Stop hiding and face me!" Twilight howled at the top of her lungs. Muttering a stronger incantation under her breath, a corona of arcane energy circled around her horn, eventually extending outwards and collapsing into a large purple orb.

The loud gong of a grandfather clock striking twelve echoed from somewhere in the distance, and Twilight fired. The orb exploded and sent a hundred lances of arcane light shooting out in every direction. The energy ripped through the mansion, through walls, ceilings, and support beams alike. As the light faded, the building groaned in protest as a chill draft seeped in through the new holes.

The clock chimed a second time, and the world around her seemed to shift. The ground itself seemed to shake, and the air seemed unbearably hot all of a sudden. Was this her counterattack?

She quickly cast a shield around herself, preparing to defend against a direct magical assault. Instead, the air only seemed to get hotter, and Twilight struggled to breathe as the air began to shimmer around her with heat. The clock chimed a third time.

This wasn't directed at her, but the whole mansion? She had used an area of effect spell herself, but something on this scale…

Twilight fought to stay standing as she fell into a coughing fit. The walls and floors seemed to be glowing with an intense red, and her vision swam as she looked around for any sign of her attacker. Flickers of light began to fall from the shining walls, embers dancing through the room like thousands of tiny golden butterflies.

The clock chimed a fourth time.

Even with the roar of the earth below her, the air rushing around her, and fierce crackling of flames, she heard it. Hoofsteps. Somepony was coming after all. Twilight struggled to rise, but her knees buckled under the immense pressure of the firestorm engulfing the mansion.

The clock chimed for a fifth time, the note turning sour as it too was warped by the flames.

She could just barely see it. The shadow of somepony walking down the stairs. Smoke and pain and golden butterflies of fire obscured her vision, but she had her target. She heard a voice, but could not make out any words.

Summoning every last ounce of strength she had left, Twilight fired a blast of magical energy at the pony that stood before her. The clocked chimed a sixth and final time. Twilight felt fire, pain, and then nothing.

The storm passed, and the leaden clouds that had enshrouded the mountains for so long cleared away. Sun shone down on the valley and the snow began to melt, the harsh blizzard almost forgotten.

It would take some time yet for everything to fully thaw, but life would return to the valley soon, birds filling the air with song.

Princess Cadence and Shining armor arrived soon afterwards, and were horrified with what they found. Sifting through the burnt ruins, they discovered the remains of some of their closest friends and their dear sibling, although too much had burned away to make a positive identification for everypony.

In the end, they were forced to conclude that everypony who had been at the mansion during those two days was gone forever.

How gruesome had the game of Golden Wish been? Of those who knew of what transpired, only ash remained. Those who came after the story was over had no hope of understanding. They could only imagine what sort of nightmare had befallen the mansion's visitors.

However, the mistress of the mansion was fickle, and a scrap of information remained that allowed for a glimmer of truth.

A year later, construction had begun on a memorial for the victims of what was then known as "The Princess Massacre". While clearing the ruins, a worker dug up a small lockbox. Inside was stack of neatly written letters, the pages of which contained an account of the tragedy that had shaken Equestria to its foundation.

"By the time you read this, I will probably be dead. Whoever you are, you must find out the truth. That's all I want.

-Rainbow Dash"

Twilight stared down at the final page of the book, her mouth hanging open in shock. Numbly, she lifted the book upside down and shook it as if she expected extra pages to fall out.

"Is… this it?" Twilight asked, turning to Fluttershy. She was biting her hooves and trembling, and she flinched from the intensity of Twilight's gaze before nodding softly.

Twilight turned back to the book, reading the final page again. After everything she had been through this afternoon... _This_ was how it all ended?

"So, um, whatdidyouthink?" Fluttershy squeaked, her voice cracking in a hoarse whisper.

Twilight turned back to Fluttershy and stared at her blankly. A thousand possible responses flickered through her mind. A voice in the back of her head screamed at her to lie, to keep lying until Applejack passed out from shock.

Twilight's right eye twitched slightly, and she spoke. "You know, Fluttershy, traditionally mystery novels end with the detective solving the mystery and bringing the culprit to justice."

Fluttershy swallowed, closing her eyes and wetting her throat before responding. "I know that…"

"So when a story doesn't end like that, and in fact really doesn't have much of a mystery to solve in the first place, it's actually more of a slasher-horror where all of us get murdered horribly," Twilight said, unable to keep the rising anger from her voice.

"That's not…" Fluttershy paused, looking down and fidgeting before looking back up to Twilight with a pleading expression. "There's still a mystery, and you can solve it… You-you, I mean. Not the you in the book."

Twilight barked a short, harsh laugh. "Mystery? As if. The evil alicorn, Golden Wish, horribly murdered us all with a spectacular display of rule breaking magic. Case closed! Reaaal engaging villain you created there, by the way. A tragic back-story, a single taunting letter, and a shadowy appearance at the end? Character of the year!"

Fluttershy flinched back, her eyes starting to glisten with tears. "I didn't… I thought you…" Sniffling slightly, she wiped her eyes with a hoof. "I thought you were really good at mysteries, Twilight."

"Oh, am I now? Well, I guess you were wrong, Fluttershy! Why don't you go ahead and enlighten me on the_ genius_ solution I'm missing here? Just go ahead and spoil it, I don't mind," Twilight said, her voice dripping with venom.

"No!" Fluttershy shouted, pulling herself up and looking Twilight in the eyes fiercely. "You have to figure it out on your own!"

Twilight's mouth fell open at the sudden outburst, but quickly recovered from the shock and growled, leaning forward and bearing down on the pegasus before her.

"You want to know what I think? Fine! I think your subplot with Applejack and Rarity came out of nowhere, was missing a lot of buildup, and the conclusion for it was vague and unsatisfying. Also, it was creepy. Those are our friends, Fluttershy."

Twilight pushed forward, Fluttershy shrinking away from the fire in her eyes. "I have absolutely no idea what you were trying to do with Celestia and Luna. They barely had any visible presence in the story, and the narrative practically forgot about them entirely in the last quarter."

Pulling back as Fluttershy cowered before her, Twilight spun around and began to walk through the library. "And maybe if it wasn't obvious enough already, as a reader I don't particularly enjoy dark stories to begin with, but especially not when I have to read about my closest friends in all of Equestria getting murdered, and I have to read through the eyes of a me who's absolutely devastated by it.

"But perhaps most importantly of all, I want to know…" Twilight stopped walking, her back to Fluttershy as she took a deep breath before whirling around.

"Where. Is. My. HAPPY. ENDING!?" Her eyes glistening with tears, Twilight punctuated each word with a stomp of her hooves, her voice thundering throughout the library as several books fell to the floor.

Her words hung in the air, the silence only broken up a soft sobbing.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time, Twilight," Fluttershy mumbled, shakily rising to her hooves and moving towards the door.

A sharp pain stabbed through Twilight's heart and she froze, the realization of how worked up she had gotten finally dawning on her. To make matters worse, she looked up to see Spike standing in the open doorway, his mouth hanging down to the floor."

"Wait, Fluttershy, I didn't mean…" Twilight reached out a hoof ineffectually at the retreating Pegasus. After all that, what could she possibly say?

"H-hey, Spike," Fluttershy mumbled weakly, wiping at her eyes. "Take good care of Twilight, okay? I think I hurt her pretty bad."

With a choking sob, Fluttershy galloped out the door, tears trailing behind her as she ran away.

After a long moment of silence, Spike finally spoke up. "Wow, Twilight. Of all of our friends I'd ever expected you to blow up on like that, I never thought it would be Fluttershy."

"I…" Twilight mumbled, her cheeks burning. What had she done? Even if her reasons were justified, that was way too excessive. Especially for Fluttershy. What kind of friend was she?

"So… are you going to go after her?" Spike asked, moving inside and setting his bags on the floor.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. It would be the right thing to do. It was what a good friend would do. She should go apologize and make amends.

But she was still so _angry_. Reading that had honestly hurt, and the wound was still too fresh.

Twilight shook her head. "I'm sorry, Spike. I guess this is all a little out of context for you, but… I can't. Not right now. I think both of us need some time to cool off before we can work this out."

Spike raised an eyebrow, looking Twilight up and down before he shrugged and closed the door behind him. "If you say so. Just what was all that about anyway?"

Twilight glanced down at the book, discarded on the floor. Fluttershy hadn't taken it with her. "It's…. a long story. And one that should probably stay between the two of us."

"Aww, come on Twilight! How come I never get to hear the juicy drama, huh?" Spike asked, pouting.

Twilight turned and fixed Spike with a fierce glare and he turned away, blushing. "Eheh, right. Sorry, Twilight. I guess this isn't a joke to you. Hey, are you hungry?"

Her stomach growling on cue, Twilight nodded in affirmation. Maybe a good meal would help her calm down a bit.

That evening, Twilight was well fed and had calmed down considerably. She had already begun mentally composing a complex apology, though it was difficult. She didn't really understand where Fluttershy was coming from with all this, and she knew that until she did, it would be difficult to put everything behind them.

But something was bugging her.

Even as she filled herself with busy work to help clear her head and organize her thoughts in the same way she organized her books, there was a persistent nagging in the back of her mind that just wouldn't go away.

She looked over her shoulder at Fluttershy's book with a sigh. _Why did Fluttershy write this? Why is she so invested in my opinion on it? And why did I get so angry when I was disappointed with the ending?_

She knew the answer to the last question, at least. Had Fluttershy written a regular novel, no matter how crappy the ending had been, Twilight could have handled her critique with grace and tact.

Except Fluttershy's narrative was personal. It was about her. And she had been pulled into the story, whether she liked it or not. Twilight's struggles were her struggles, and when her struggle was left unresolved, it struck a nerve.

And there was something else, too.

It was in something that Fluttershy had said. That there was a mystery here, that it was solvable, and that she, not the Twilight in the book, was supposed to solve it.

She just couldn't connect the threads, but… The idea that there was a puzzle here, staring her in the face and taunting her incompetence was slowly becoming maddening. Had she simply missed something? Some vital clue that pulls everything together?

"I'm going to bed," Spike said, yawning. "G'night, Twilight. Try not to stay up too late."

"Good night, Spike," Twilight said absentmindedly. Her attention was still focused on the book. It just didn't make any sense to her, but…

Cursing her insatiable curiosity, Twilight levitated the book to her and opened up to the first page. "Princess Twilight Sparkle…"


	10. Tea Party

"Here you go, Twilight. I brought some more tea for you."

Fluttershy leaned over, pouring tea into Twilight's cup.

What?

"Um, thanks Fluttershy. It smells really good," Twilight said, smiling. Fluttershy beamed back at her, and began moving around the mansion's lounge in order to fill the cups of everypony else.

"Aww, come on, tea? I mean it's okay, I guess, but if you've got any cider could I have that instead?" Rainbow Dash asked, glaring at her teacup as if it might bite her.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh come now, darling. There is a certain aesthetic synergy in having a tea party, you know, and the atmosphere would be completely ruined if you just sat there guzzling cider by the mug."

Pinkie Pie sipped at her tea carefully and steadily before setting it down on the table in front of her and immediately bouncing up into the air. "Yeah, come on Dashie! A tea party's not a party-party! Although I guess it could be, but then it wouldn't really be a tea party, but a party that happens to have tea. If you like we can throw a party that happens to have tea after the tea party? Or maybe just a party-party that has cider!"

Rainbow Dash growled, grabbing the teacup roughly and downing it in one gulp. "Fine, we'll just do this!"

Applejack chuckled heartily, clapping Rainbow Dash on the back. "Aw come on, it ain't so bad. Took me a while to get used to, and still ain't really my scene besides, but after that adventure we all just went through, something like this sure is nice."

"Mmmm. My thoughts exactly," Rarity said, leaning over and nuzzling Applejack softly.

"Oh man, that was so much fun!" Pinkie Pie said, grinning from ear to ear. "I just wish I got to play a bigger part. You win some, you lose some, I guess."

Applejack tipped her hat. "There's always next time, Pinkie. So who do y'all think is the murderer?"

"Wait... what?" Twilight said, suddenly looking up from her tea. "What are you talking about?"

"Oooh! I know, I know! Pick me!" Pinkie Pie bounced around, shouting and waving her arms.

"Oh, this is going to be good," Rainbow Dash said as she rolled her eyes. "Well, go on, Pinkie, who do you think is the murderer?"

"Drumroll, please!" Pinkie Pie called out, pulling out a drum from somewhere. "The murderer – Or should I say, _murderers_ are…

"Those two pegasus guards that accompanied Twilight in the beginning!"

There was a brief pause before everypony except Twilight burst into laughter. "Are you kidding me, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash asked, snorting and trying to stay seated. "That doesn't even make sense."

"Really now, Pinkie, did those two even get names?" Applejack asked, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I dunno!" Pinkie Pie said cheerily, causing Applejack to cover her face with her hoof.

"Yeah, whatever. If those two mooks turned out to be the culprit it would be a totally lame solution," Rainbow Dash said, waving a forehoof dismissively. "Besides, I've got a better answer."

Twilight stared at her friends, completely dumbfounded. None of this made sense. Why did her head hurt? It was so hard to think straight…

"I bet the culprit was…" Rainbow Dash paused for dramatic effect.

"Fluttershy!" she yelled and leapt forward, tackling Fluttershy to the ground and grinning wickedly.

Fluttershy yelped and cowered underneath Rainbow Dash, sputtering. "W-what, I…"

"You fer real?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, it totally makes sense! She's always the cute, innocent, and shy one! I could totally picture her having a crazy psychotic side that goes around murdering everypony!"

"B-but, I don't…" Fluttershy mumbled weakly, her protests ignored.

"Like yer one to talk," Applejack snorted derisively. "You were actin' mighty suspicious the whole time, Rainbow. How do we know you didn't do it?"

"Me!?" Rainbow Dash yelled, choking on her words. She wheeled around and flew over to Applejack, butting heads with her. "YOU'RE the one who had some horrible, dark secret you were keeping from your fiancé which was enough to cause her to dump you!"

Applejack growled, pushing her weight against Rainbow Dash. "That's between me and her, and ain't none of your business besides."

"How can you both…" Twilight muttered weakly, trying to fight through the heavy fog in her mind as the two glared daggers at each other.

Rarity cleared her throat loudly before puffing her hair up and posing. "Excuse me, but I think you two might be forgetting a certain somepony who was perfectly capable of murdering the rest of you?"

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked over at her, then back at each other before they both burst out laughing, rolling around on the floor.

"You, the murderer?" Rainbow Dash said, barely able to speak through the fits of laughter.

"Sorry, hun, but that's rich." Applejack said, grinning widely.

Rarity puffed up, her cheeks turning red as she glowered at the two below her. "How dare you! I am just as capable as anypony here of committing such vile deeds! The methods of murder were, for the most part, pretty elegant, you know. And I've got a unique advantage! Magic makes committing such crimes so much easier, don't you think? Especially with all those locked rooms. Who else but a unicorn could bypass a chain lock without breaking it?" Rarity tapped her horn for emphasis.

This was insane, right? This setting, what they were talking about… it was from Fluttershy's novel. So why was she…?

"Orrrr maaaaaybe," Pinkie Pie said in a slow drawl. "It was meeeeee." They all turned to look at Pinkie Pie. Her mane had gone straight and her eyes shifted in different directions crazily as she brandished a paring knife.

Applejack rolled her eyes as she got up off the ground and took her seat again. "You died at the beginning, Pinkie." Glancing over at Rainbow Dash, she added, "Fluttershy too, for that matter."

"Oh yeah!" Pinkie Pie said, her mane immediately bouncing back to its normal curls. "Whoops!"

Rarity sighed, still feeling indignant that she was being dismissed but unable to maintain that attitude for long in front of Pinkie Pie. "Well, I suppose that we've got a lot of options. Speaking of Fluttershy, who do you think did it, darling?"

"Oh, me?" Fluttershy blushed, looking away. "I don't know. I don't really want to say. It would be, um, rude."

"It's okay, dear Fluttershy," a regal voice said as the door to the lounge opened. "You can say what's on your mind, I won't be offended."

"Princess Celestia! And Princess Luna," they all called out as the two alicorns entered the room.

"Aw shucks," Applejack said as she took her hat off. "Hadn't really gotten a chance to see you two, so I'd almost forgotten you were here."

"It is no worry, my little ponies," Celestia said as she ducked into the room. "If you don't mind, a cup of tea please?"

Twilight stared at Princess Celestia and Luna. Something felt off, even about them.

Luna jumped into the center of the room, spinning around and grinning as she spread her wings theatrically. "'Tis not exactly an uncommon scenario. There are many stories out there that depict mine dearest sister as a murderous tyrant. I, the heroic and neglected younger sibling dare to stand up to her! But alas, I am slain and my horn is cast aside as a trophy in retaliation!"

Celestia sipped at her tea, smiling softly as she watched her sister gesticulate wildly.

"Or perhaps it was you, Twilight Sparkle!" Luna shouted, pointing a hoof accusingly. "This mayhaps be a story of your descent into madness, of a split personality or doppelganger!"

Well, she certainly felt pretty insane right now.

"Don't be silly!" Pinkie Pie said, raising her forehooves above her head and making an 'X'. "The detective isn't allowed to be the culprit. That's just cheating!"

Luna blushed slightly, pulling back. "Ah. My apologies. I was not fully aware of the rules."

"Hmm, well maybe it was…"

"It's possible, but I think a better option is…"

"I think you might be on to something with that one, but does it really…"

"The murderer could be…"

"The murderer…"

"ENOUGH!" Twilight screamed, grabbing everypony's teacups with telekinesis and smashing them on the ground. "What is wrong with all of you!?"

Rarity stared down at her shattered teacup distastefully before sighing and kneading her temple with a hoof. "Twilight, darling, if you have a theory of your own, we'd be more than happy to hear it, but going around breaking things is just –"

"How…" Twilight flinched back, clutching her forehead with her hoof. It was so hard to think straight. "How can you all just sit around here casually talking about your murders? You're dead! You're all supposed to be dead. So am I. But you're all just sitting here, accusing each other like its nothing."

She was supposed to be dead? This... wasn't right. That was the fictional Twilight. These were the fictional versions of her friends. So why was she…?

"Besides…" Twilight said, lowering her head and keeping her eyes closed. "We already know who the killer is. The pony named Golden Wish, whoever she is. She admitted as much herself. I… just wasn't able to stop her. I'm sorry."

Twilight stood there with her head down, waiting for a response. None came, and she realized an unnatural silence had fallen over the room

As Twilight raised her gaze a silent scream caught in her throat.

Everypony was dead. Just like they had been before. Just like she had read in the book. Pinkie Pie lay smiling, her throat cut. Applejack and Rarity snuggled close in a pool of blood. Luna's horn lay discarded on the table. Princess Celestia and Rainbow Dash were simply gone. And Fluttershy…

She heard a wet dripping sound from behind her where Fluttershy had been sitting.

She couldn't bring herself to turn around.

The world shifted around her, the room suddenly awash in flame. The choking smoke invaded her senses, and the oppressive heat made her muddled mind sink even deeper into confusion.

Tiny embers began to flake from the inferno, the motes of light swirling together in the center of the room and coalescing into the shape of a pony.

"Well then, Twilight Sparkle," a voice rang out, reverberating around the room. "You wanted a confrontation with me so badly. So here I am."

As the figure extended her wings there was a pulse of energy and the room around her vanished, flames and all. She was merely floating in a dark void, her senses dimming further..

As she struggled to regain her balance, Twilight stared up at the alicorn towering over her. Golden Wish looked exactly like Twilight had pictured her. Her sleek golden fur, her short cropped lavender bob, and scales running down her back.

"You... killed my friends," Twilight growled weakly. She tried to fire up her horn, but no magic came to her, her sense of clarity still slipping in and out.

Golden Wish merely threw back her head and laughed, cackling maniacally. "You don't have what it takes to destroy me, Princess. You are too arrogant, too blind to the truths that surround you."

"No," Twilight whimpered, feebly trying to protest as her vision dimmed further. "This is all just a trick… I'll never give up."

Golden Wish smirked as Twilight's mind slipped back into darkness.

"A trick without an explanation is no different than the truth."


	11. Question Marks

"You there… yes, **you. **You certainly seem like an interesting one. Perhaps you will provide me with some entertainment after all.

"You seek the truth… but the truth is a fickle and dangerous thing. When you reach inside and tear out the guts, you see all there is to see, in all of its terrible and ugly glory.

"Can you prevail against all odds? Will you reach your desired happy ending? Truly, it would take a miracle. If you find the answers you seek, will you be happy with them? Or will it only cause you pain?

"I am Infinite Miracle. As long as the probability of something happening is greater than zero, I can make it happen without fail.

"I've decided to lend you my aid. It looks like your future will be very entertaining, and boredom is poison to someone like me. So try your best to weave a compelling narrative, okay? I can become quite cruel if you bore me.

"If you want to succeed, keep digging and digging. Dismantle this story to the very atom, tear out its insides and analyze them harshly. If you hold back for the sake of kindness, the pain endured will only magnify. Harsh truths should bathe in harsh sunlight.

"As a token of my good faith, I will lend you a fraction of my power. These formidable weapons will help you in what will come.

"PZ1 K775 Bd"


	12. Chapter 9: Reconciliation

Twilight woke up, gasping for air. She struggled fervently as panic gripped her heart, her limbs getting tangled in the bedsheets and —

_ It was just a nightmare. _

With a shuddering gasp Twilight fell still and allowed her racing heart to settle down. She was safe, in her bed. None of what she had witnessed was real.

After taking several deep breaths, she let out a long yawn and pushed her sweat soaked sheets aside as she got out of bed. It was certainly an effective nightmare. She felt exhausted, like she had barely gotten any rest at all. _I suppose that's what I get for reading until I fell asleep._

Reading about that stuff was one thing, but actually experiencing it, even in a dream… No. She shouldn't dwell on it too much. The memory would probably pass in a few hours.

There had been something else though, at the end. A voice... and a string of numbers?

Pulling a parchment and quill from her bedside drawer, Twilight wrote down the letters and numbers still burned into her memory. They looked familiar somehow, but she couldn't quite place it.

She yawned again and stretched before looking at her disheveled form in the mirror. The dark circles around her eyes and the unkempt state of her mane reflected exactly how she felt.

After making a few silly faces at herself, Twilight let out a sigh as the full memory of what all had transpired yesterday came back to her.

"This is going to be a long day," she grumbled as she shuffled towards the bedroom door.

"Hey, Twilight. You feeling alright?"

Twilight groaned in response as she slumped over the kitchen table, watching Spike make breakfast out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, my mighty dragon breakfast special ought to give you some energy!" Spike said, turning and flashing Twilight a winning smile, before it fell to a more concerned expression. "But seriously… I know you're not much for mornings, but this Fluttershy thing must be pretty bad."

"It's…" Twilight paused, closing her eyes and allowing the smell of breakfast to clear her head before continuing. "That smells really good, Spike. But this situation is pretty complicated. There's probably a lesson about friendship in here somewhere, though I haven't quite figured it out yet."

Twilight laughed, pushing herself up from the table and stretching her neck. "No, that won't be necessary. At least not yet anyway."

Glancing down at the paper on the table, she levitated it over to where Spike was cooking. "Hey, does this mean anything to you?"

Spike pulled away from the pot he was stirring and stared at the paper, scratching his chin. "Hmm… Isn't this some kind of library thing?"

A library thing? It didn't seem like…

Twilight pulled the paper back, reciting the string out loud. "PZ1.K775 Bd…"

Realization flashed in Twilight's mind, and she smacked herself in the face over how obvious it was. "Of course! This is a book classification for the Library of Celestia! It's a very particular sorting method meant for large collections of books, but it's generally only used in academic libraries."

Spike looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. "So you're looking for a book we don't have?"

"I'm not sure!" Twilight said excitedly. She got up and trotted over to the bookshelf and began scanning back and forth, her earlier lethargy forgotten. "I don't know what this code refers to specifically, but we have a reference guide for that system here somewhere."

"Is Fluttershy giving you really obscure books to look up or something?" Spike asked.

"Huh? No, nothing like that," Twilight said, finding the guide she was looking for and beginning to page through it. "Actually, I was told to look up this book in a dream."

Spike stared at her, blankly. "You're receiving book recommendations in your dreams now? What's next, sleep reading?"

Sleep reading? If only she could be that productive. Maybe she should have a chat with Luna.

Twilight matched the code to a book and, with delight, realized it was one they had here in the library. After a minute of searching, she found it and pulled the dusty tome off the shelves.

"'A Treatise on Mysteries,' by Roan A. Knocks," Twilight announced, holding the book up proudly.

"A mystery novel?" Spike asked. "Isn't that one almost a century old?"

"It's not so much a mystery _novel _as it is a collection of essays on the various facets of the mystery genre as a whole, including a somewhat famous set of 'rules' mystery authors should follow," Twilight explained. This would be perfect for Fluttershy.

As glad as she was for this discovery, the circumstances surrounding it were weird. Was her subconscious trying to show her a way to make peace with her friend?

"Ooookay then," Spike said, rolling his eyes. "Only you could get excited about something like that, Twilight. Anyway, breakfast is ready."

Twilight's heart fluttered as she ate. Not only had she found this book, but Spike was wrong. For once, she might not be the only pony who cared about something like this. Fluttershy had taken her first steps into the wide world of literature. Okay, maybe the attempt had ended in a total disaster, and that would usually be enough to scare Fluttershy away from something new, but if Twilight could handle it right, she might be able to coax her newfound interest into something greater.

All she had to do was go see Fluttershy, apologize profusely, and they could put the whole thing behind them.

Twilight's face scrunched up as images of Fluttershy flickered through her mind. Her determination about the mystery, and her heartbreak as Twilight had vented her frustrations on her. Sure, it might be possible to forget about this whole thing and pretend it never happened. But Twilight had a feeling that Fluttershy was hoping for something more.

She had re-read the entire novel last night, but wasn't any closer to solving the mystery. There were some things she hadn't noticed at first that she caught the second time around, but nothing definitive. Still, she had to move forward and do the best she could. For Fluttershy's sake.

"Uh, does it taste okay, Twilight?" Spike asked, a worried look on his face. "You look like something bit your tongue."

Twilight swallowed her food, blushing slightly. "Sorry, Spike. It's delicious. I just have a lot on my mind, that's all."

Spike frowned, nodding as he drummed his claws on the table. "If you say so, Twilight. So what are your plans then?"

"Well…" Twilight said as she levitated her empty plate to the sink. "I plan to stop by the market to pick up a few things first, but after that I need to go to Fluttershy's and apologize. I just hope she'll give me the chance."

"Uhhuh," Spike said, crossing his arms and looking Twilight up and down. "Well, good luck."

Twilight let out a sigh. "Thanks. I'm probably going to need it."

* * *

Twilight walked through the Ponyville market with a satchel slung over her shoulder, soaking in the warm sunlight and the thrum of the ponies around her. As ragged as she felt both physically and mentally, the life and energy of the quiet little village she called home always had a rejuvenating effect on her.

"Hey, you there! The purple one with the wings and the horn! Over here!"

Twilight frowned as the unfamiliar voice called out to her and snapped her out of her reverie. She glanced around the market, trying to find out who it belonged to. Eventually she saw a light pink unicorn mare with a blond mane waving at her frantically from behind a stall.

Twilight trotted over to the stall in question. "Um… can I help you?" It wasn't a stall or a pony she recognized, and a sloppily written banner spelled out, "We're _Absolutely Certain_ you'll be satisfied!"

"Hiya! You must be that new princess I've heard so much about. I'm Absolute Certainty. Welcome to my candy shop!" she said, bowing slightly and tipping her pink beret.

Twilight grimaced inwardly, keeping her face a smiling mask. "Hi there, nice to meet you! I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. I don't think we've met before, so if you're new here, then welcome to Ponyville!" She took a quick glance at Certainty's cutie mark. It appeared to be an image of a solar system, except the stars and the planets were made out of candy.

"My candies are perfect if you or someone you know is feeling down. All of them exquisitely crafted by yours truly," Certainty said, beaming with pride. "I put my heart and soul into everything I create!"

Twilight nodded politely at the sales pitch, idly scanning the shelves. She supposed it would be best if she went ahead and bought something. It's not like candy would be unwelcome.

Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes fell upon the grisly display on the bottom shelf. "What is…?"

"Do you like it?" Certainty asked, grinning widely. "Those are my specially made bone-marzipan, gummy brains, and cotton candy gore!"

"This is, uh…" Twilight paused, trying to find a tactful thing to say as she looked over the gruesome candies. "Um, I'm pretty sure Nightmare Night isn't for another four months…"

"Ponies should be able to enjoy gruesomely mundane spectacles any day of the year, if you ask me! Kind of makes you contemplate you own mortality and the fragility of life, don't you think?" Certainty leaned forward, getting uncomfortably close to Twilight as she grinned wildly, a manic glint in her eyes.

Twilight was reminded of Pinkie Pie somewhat, but this pony came off a bit creepy rather than warm and full of smiles. "Uh, that's definitely an interesting way of looking at things."

Certainty pulled back and lowered her head. Her beret slipped down and pushed her short blonde mane into her eyes as she looked up at Twilight, pouting. "Nobody else seems to think so. I never sell any of them. Do you have any idea how much work it is to get the texture right on the brains?"

Twilight fought to keep her expression neutral. She was being played, she could feel it. "I guess I'll take a couple of them."

"That's wonderful," Certainty said, bouncing up. She levitated a number of the candies into a bag and wrapped it up, closing it with a ribbon and a pumpkin sticker. "That'll be seven bits. And remember. If you desire something with absolute certainty, than come to Absolute Certainty!"

Twilight paid for the candies and bowed, leaving quickly. Maybe Spike would get a kick out of these.

* * *

Applejack finished lifting the last of the boxes onto the cart, wiping the sweat from her brow. "That oughta do it."

"I cannot thank you enough for lending me a hoof with this, darling," Rarity said, telekinetically attaching the cart's harness to Applejack. "I try not to order in bulk very often, but these materials came at a great bargain."

"Ain't no sweat, Rar," Applejack said, grunting as she began to pull the heavy cart down the road. "Anything fer a friend."

The two of them walked side by side in silence for awhile, until Applejack noticed a familiar purple princess meandering through the crowd.

"Hey, Twilight!" Applejack called out with a wave. "How're you doin'?"

"Oh, hey!" Twilight brightened as she saw who it was, and waved back enthusiastically before trotting over. "Hi Applejack! And hi... Rarity?"

Twilight stopped, her mouth working soundlessly as she glanced between the two of them. Her face slowly turned beet red. "W-what are you two doing here? Together?"

Rarity raised an eyebrow, glancing at Applejack. "She's just helping me move some goods to the boutique."

Twilight stared at them blankly, still blushing before the words finally reached her and she jumped up, forcing a smile that was way too wide. "Ehehe... Just delivering goods! Of course, what else would it be..."

Applejack and Rarity shared another glance before looking back to Twilight, concerned. "Uh, sugarcube? You feelin' alright? No offense, but you're looking a bit run down."

"Me? Nope! I'm fine! Definitely, totally fine. I just happened to bump into two of my best friends in the marketplace. Together. Not that there's anything wrong with that!" Twilight backed away, gesticulating wildly as she spoke.

"Twilight, darling," Rarity said, fixing Twilight with a stern glare. "We know you well enough by now that we can tell when something is up. If you can't talk about it for whatever reason that's understandable, but don't pretend that everything is 'fine' when it clearly isn't."

"I..." Twilight let out a sigh, lowering her head. "You're right. I'm sorry. I can't really give you the details, but I kind of got into a fight with Fluttershy. I'm on my way to apologize to her right now."

Rarity hissed sharply, pursing her lips while Applejack stared blankly, blinking several times before letting out a low whistle.

"Shoot. Never expected that answer. You need help with anything? We all know how delicate Fluttershy can be."

Twilight shook her head. "No… I think this is something I have to handle on my own."

"This… 'fight' you had," Rarity said, glancing about before leaning in close and speaking with a low whisper. "Just what was it about, exactly?"

"It's… complicated," Twilight said. "I really shouldn't get into details, but let's just say I rather explicitly disliked a book Fluttershy obviously cared a lot about. I may have gone a little overboard in expressing my opinion."

Rarity blinked, taken aback. "A… book? I see. Well, uh, good luck, Twilight. Do let me know if you need any assistance with this matter, will you?"

"Thanks, Rarity. I'll do my best." Twilight smiled, nodding to both mares. "I'd better get going. You two, um…" Twilight looked away, her blush returning. "Uh, have fun… helping each other."

Turning away, Twilight practically galloped down the road.

After watching Twilight disappear into the distance, Applejack took off her hat, scratching her head. "Just what in tarnation was that all about?"

Rarity shook her head and clicked her tongue. "I have a bad feeling about this. Whenever Twilight gets into one of her 'odd' moods, nopony can predict what's going to happen. I do hope Fluttershy will be alright, but it's not our place to interfere."

Applejack turned to her and raised an eyebrow, causing Rarity to blush.

"Not yet, anyway."

* * *

Twilight slowed down to a walk, safely outside of town on the road to Fluttershy's cottage, her heart still pounding in her chest. It was all just fictional. There was no good reason for her to be acting so foalish.

She sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead. This was shaping up to be a pretty awful day so far. Terrible, yet weirdly informative nightmares, crazy ponies selling candy, and she just _had_ to bump into Applejack and Rarity during one of the odd occasions when they decided to spend time together. If she was a more superstitious pony, she might have taken it as a sign to turn around, go home, and try working things out with Fluttershy another day.

It only took a few more minutes to reach the cottage, and Twilight paused, hesitating outside the front door. She hoped Fluttershy would at least be willing to talk to her. Running through her carefully prepared speech one last time, Twilight reached a hoof up and knocked on the door.

After a minute with no answer, Twilight tried again, her confidence slipping. "Fluttershy? Are you in there? It's me, Twilight. Look, I just want to talk, okay?"

There was shuffling sound from behind the door, and Twilight let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Forcing a warm smile as the door opened, her face fell and she blinked in surprise when, instead of Fluttershy, Angel opened the door.

"Oh… Uh, hey, Angel. Is Fluttershy in?" Twilight asked, trying to peer past him.

Angel began gesticulating wildly, shaking his fist at Twilight and pointing inside, all while chattering incomprehensibly. He pulled the door all the way open and scampered off, glancing back over his shoulder to angrily motion for her to follow.

Angel led her up to Fluttershy's room, stopping outside and turning back to Twilight, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently.

Twilight peeked around the corner and saw Fluttershy sitting there, hunched over a table with a quill in her mouth, furiously writing. She immediately noticed that the place was an absolute wreck. Candy wrappers, discarded sheets of paper, empty ink bottles, and other various bits of trash were strewn about the floor.

"Fluttershy…" Twilight mumbled, her mouth hanging open.

Fluttershy lazily turned to look at Twilight, and smiled softly. "Oh, hey Twilight. Good to see you. Um, sorry about the mess."

Twilight stared, her planned apology evaporating from her mind in an instant. Fluttershy's eyes were bloodshot, and there were thick dark circles under them. Her mane was frazzled, with stray hairs sticking up all over the place, and it generally looked like she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.

"Are you… okay?" Twilight said weakly, licking her lips and swallowing. "I know I said some hurtful things last night…"

Fluttershy turned her head slightly, staring at Twilight in incomprehension. She blinked several times, before the spark of understanding finally lit up in her eyes and she gasped lightly, her face falling as she looked to the floor.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry, Twilight. It was really all my fault. I'm not a very good writer, please forgive me."

Twilight let out a sigh, closing her eyes and rubbing her temple with a hoof. This wasn't going at all like she had planned, and Fluttershy was barely conscious besides.

"That's not true, Fluttershy," Twilight said, moving over and placing a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. " You're a pretty good writer, especially considering it's your first novel . I just… had some personal reservations about the direction of the plot. I'm sorry. I acted completely out of line, and said some mean things. I was lashing out because I was angry and hurt, but that's no excuse to act like a jerk to a friend."

Her words once again took time to reach the sleep deprived mind of Fluttershy, and she watched the delayed reaction as Fluttershy slowly turned a deep crimson, her eyes going wide.

"Y-you're too kind, Twilight… I let myself get too wrapped up in the story I created, and in my idea on how everything would turn out, I didn't really consider how it would make you feel."

Twilight grinned, throwing her forelegs around Fluttershy in a hug. "Guess we can both go a little overboard sometimes, huh?"

"Thank you," Fluttershy said, smiling. She pulled out of the hug, shaking her head and vigorously rubbing at her eyes.

"Seriously though, are you okay? You look absolutely exhausted," Twilight said.

Fluttershy nodded, her eyelids drooping as she let out a yawn. "Nnn… I'm fine, Twilight, it's okay. I'm almost finished anyways."

"Finished with… what, exactly?" Twilight asked, a note of apprehension in her voice.

"The sequel, of course," Fluttershy said as she moved back to her desk and picked up a quill.

Twilight stared blankly at the large stack of papers on the table. Had Fluttershy seriously written all of them in just one night? The idea of it was completely insane.

"How can there possibly be a sequel when everypony died at the end?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow."

"You'll just have to read it and find out," Fluttershy said, nodding absentmindedly. She stopped, turned to look at Twilight, and then blushed, shaking her head. "No, that's not right. I can't ask you to read this again… I'm just writing this for me."

The thought of diving back into that literary world of nightmare twisted Twilight's stomach, but she also felt that burning spark of curiosity in the back of her mind. "Did you plan to have a sequel this whole time, or did you just expand on it when I couldn't figure it out?"

Fluttershy frowned, raising a hoof to her chin. "I'm not quite sure… I think I always had the basic idea that there would be more. The way I imagined everything and what I ended up writing didn't match up the way I hoped they would. I don't think I did a very good job of making the mystery solvable. I'm sorry. But, um, I'm still trying my best."

"I see…" Twilight said, taking a deep breath. "Why… what made you decide to do all of this in the first place, Fluttershy? What are you trying to accomplish here?"

"O-oh…" Fluttershy closed her eyes and hung her head to the floor, pawing at the ground. She remained silent for a full minute before finally speaking up in a weak voice, refusing to look at Twilight. "They say a mystery novel is basically a puzzle. A contest between the author and the reader.

"I…" Fluttershy swallowed, looking up to meet Twilight's gaze, blushing. "I wanted to create a puzzle that you would enjoy solving."

Twilight found herself smiling. It was certainly an interesting sentiment, even if the execution had left something to be desired. "I suppose I can see what you're trying to get at. I feel the same way about mystery novels, really. But if your goal is to get me to solve a puzzle, why not just make the puzzle and leave out all the extraneous narrative involving murder?"

Fluttershy raised a hoof to her chin, her brow furrowing as she considered the point. Eventually, she closed her eyes and shook her head. "A narrative can be just as much of a puzzle. And both the author's and the reader's investment in the answer is much higher."

That was definitely true. A bare bones puzzle could be stimulating on an intellectual level, but a good narrative meant that you would care about the answer for more than just the answer's sake.

Twilight chuckled softly, shaking her head. "I didn't realize you had such a high concept view on writing, Fluttershy. When you first came to me asking me to read what you wrote, I expected something totally different. Had you explained your perspective from the start, well, this whole mess might have turned out a bit differently."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm not very good at explaining things," Fluttershy said, ducking her head again.

"And I think that's enough apologies for the both of us, for now," Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I tried reading your story again last night, to see if there was anything I missed, but I'm afraid I still couldn't figure it out. In any case, I brought something that might interest you as an author."

Fluttershy perked up as Twilight levitated the satchel off her back and opened it up. She reached for the book she had found, but a thought occurred to her at the last minute instead.

"Here, I uh, brought you some candy," Twilight said, levitating over the bag she had purchased earlier.

Fluttershy blinked a few times before smiling and opening up the bag. "Oh, thank you very much, Twilight. That's very sweet of you, and –"

She stopped mid sentence, holding up the brain shaped gummy, staring at it in utter confusion.

"Um…." Fluttershy mumbled, looking to Twilight, glancing at the rest of the candy in the bag, then back at Twilight.

"It's a joke! Because, you know, you wrote a novel that involves gore and stuff, so I bought some gory candy…" Twilight rambled, baring her teeth in a forced smile.

"Oh. Oh! Ahaha, now um, I get it…" Fluttershy said, her smile equally forced.

Twilight smacked her face with her hoof, groaning. "I'm sorry. That was dumb, forget it. Anyway, I also brought a book for you."

"What? No, it was funny, Twilight, really. I'm just tired, that's all…" Fluttershy said, the lie plain on her face.

Sighing, Twilight offered her the book. "This is 'A Treatise on Mysteries,' by Roan A. Knocks. He was a prolific mystery writer about a century ago, and was part of the golden age that codified many of the tropes and conventions mystery is known for. This book is sort of a collection of essays about the genre as a whole, including a somewhat famous list of ten commandments for mystery writers to follow, 'Knocks' Decalogue.'"

Twilight beamed as Fluttershy skimmed the old tome.

"Actually, Twilight, I have this book already. I did a lot of research for this, and it's hard to write a mystery without at least considering Knock's perspective. But thank you."

Twilight blinked, her smile fading. That couldn't be right. "Your story, Fluttershy, it's not exactly…"

Fluttershy interrupted her, shaking her head. "I followed the rules, Twilight."

She thought back, about the Decalogue and Fluttershy's novel. Surely it had broken a rule somewhere? "What about the sequel?"

"Yep. I made sure to stick to it," Fluttershy said, nodding.

There it was again. That burning spark of curiosity. To say Twilight was unsatisfied with the ending would be an understatement. In part because it was all so needlessly horrific. But also because she wanted to know the truth of what had happened to her fictional counterpart. Even if she couldn't see how it was possible, Fluttershy was saying that there was more to this story.

There was something she noticed in the way Fluttershy had apologized, before and now. She was sorry for hurting Twilight. She was sorry for failing to make the mystery clear enough, and sorry for being inconsiderate of Twilight's perspective. But she never once apologized for writing what she did, and how she did it. For whatever reason, her conviction was absolute.

So here she was. The sequel was liable to be more of the same. Death. Suffering. Tragedy. It would be easy enough to walk away, here and now, and never step into that world again. Fluttershy would be disappointed, but she would understand . Twilight had no obligation to continue reading , especially after what had already happened. Like a cat trapped in a box, if she never bothered to read what was on those pages, she would never know the answer, but would also never have to experience whatever suffering they might contain.

Twilight chuckled softly, mumbling something under her breath.

"Um, what was that?" Fluttershy asked. "I didn't hear you."

"I said…" Twilight paused, looking up as a grin stretched across her face. "I'll read it. Your sequel."

Fluttershy's eyes went wide and she dropped the book she was holding to the floor. "N-no, you don't have to do that because of me, Twilight, I mean it. It's more of the same. I'm sure you'd really hate going through all of that again."

Twilight shook her head. "I'm serious, I want to read it. Does this one have a happy ending?"

Fluttershy pursed her lips, looking away. "That depends on you…"

A flare of excitement welled up in Twilight's heart. Fluttershy had some unconventional ideas about storytelling and audience participation. But now that she had experienced loss once… she was the protagonist. She wanted to fight, to win, and to see justice done.

"That settles it, Fluttershy. I'm going to do my best to solve your mystery. That is, if you think it's ready."

Fluttershy's expression changed slowly, her smile growing radiant and her eyes filling with a bright hope that seemed to wash away her exhaustion.

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" Fluttershy leapt forward, throwing her forelegs around Twilight's next and bouncing excitedly. "I worked oh so hard on this one! Now, the theme is a bit different, and I've tried to clarify some things better and the puzzles are a little more explicit and the conflict is –"

Smiling, Twilight put a hoof over Fluttershy's mouth and then extracted herself from her grasp. "No need to spoil everything. Don't worry, I'll get to it."

Fluttershy continued to bounce around the room as if she had been taking lessons from Pinkie Pie.

"So, when do you think it'll be ready?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, right now should be fine. I only needed to put a few more things in at the end."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Really? Are you certain about that? You don't want to maybe take a step back, get some sleep, do some editing…"

Fluttershy nodded. "Absolutely. I'm confident that I nailed it this time Twilight, so we can start whenever you're ready."

Twilight watched as Fluttershy started slowly leaning to one side. She nearly toppled over before Twilight reached out and caught her with her magic. "I think you should probably get some rest first. "

"Oh, no, I'll be fine, really…" Fluttershy rubbed at her eyes, yawning. "And I still have to take care of my animals. I may have been a bit neglectful."

Glancing over her shoulder, Twilight saw Angel Bunny still waiting in the door frame, rolling his eyes. "How about we head back to the library, then? I can send Spike over to watch the animals for a day, and then I'll get started on the sequel, and you can take a nap in peace and quiet."

Angel Bunny seemed to dislike this idea rather emphatically, but Fluttershy smiled and began packing up her things. "That sounds like a great idea, Twilight."

* * *

Getting back to the library with Fluttershy was more of a chore than it should have been, since she kept nodding off mid stride. By the time Twilight reached her front door, she was practically carrying the pegasus with levitation to make sure she kept going in a straight line.

"Nnnn…" Fluttershy yawned, pawing at the ground. "Is this for me, Twilight? You really shouldn't have…"

"Is what—" Twilight began to ask, but saw that Fluttershy had noticed what appeared to be a present in the bushes outside her house.

"Sorry, but I'm not sure what this is. Maybe it's something Spike ordered," Twilight said, levitating the package along as she opened the door.

"Spike, I'm home! Come here, I've got something I need you to do!" Twilight called out as she entered the library.

"What do you need, Twilight?" Spike asked as he came down the stairs.

"Can you go watch over Fluttershy's animals for the day? We've got some uh… stuff we need to work out."

Spike raised an eyebrow, looking over the two of them. Fluttershy was very poignantly interested in a particular spot on the wall. "Is uh, everything okay?'

Twilight glanced over at Fluttershy and winced slightly. "Yeah… Don't worry, I can handle everything. I'll explain this all to you later, I promise."

Spike sighed, sinking his face into his palm. "I guess I'll go get my rabbit caretaking kit," he said as he moved towards the cupboard where the pots and pans were kept.

Spike begrudgingly set off while Fluttershy collapsed onto the cushions, eyelids flickering as she slipped in and out of consciousness.

Shoot. She had forgotten to ask Spike about the package. It wasn't labeled, though, so it wouldn't really be a problem if she just went ahead and opened it.

Yellow eyes stared at her from within.

"Mrw."

Her mouth hanging open, Twilight watched as a sleek black cat stretched inside the present-box then lazily stepped out, looking around the library with feline indifference.

"Awww… I didn't know you were getting a cat, Twilight. You should have said something,"

Fluttershy said, the presence of a cute animal apparently enough to rouse her from her stupor.

"I didn't…" Twilight mumbled. Who in Equestria would send her a cat? This was a little off the wall, even for Pinkie Pie. And the punchline was missing, besides.

The cat walked across the table, jumped down, found a cushion, and settled in, yawning.

"Do you have a name, little one? Cats really shouldn't be delivered in boxes like that, but you seem to be okay, so I'm glad," Fluttershy said, continuing her adoration of the mysterious animal.

Twilight shook her head. "I have no idea why there was a cat at my doorstep, Fluttershy, and I'm not really in the market for another pet right now. If nopony shows up later to claim her, would you mind taking her in?"

"Aww, but I think she likes you, Twilight!"

The cat stared at Twilight with cold indifference, blinking once before turning to lick her paw.

Twilight pursed her lips, staring back at the animal. This was all really too out of the blue to deal with right now. It was just a cat, and she had more important things to worry about at the moment. She had a feeling this would work itself out later, anyway.

"Alright, I guess we'll just have a bit of an audience, then. Is that okay?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy continued to coo sweet nothings at the cat, so Twilight levitated the roughly written stack of papers before her and took a deep breath. _Here I go again ._

"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters…" Twilight started to read out loud, but stopped, turning to raise an eyebrow at Fluttershy. "Uh, I think it's a little late for a disclaimer like this, don't you think?"

Fluttershy blushed and looked away. "I just wanted to make it clear…"

Twilight smiled, shaking her head with a sigh. "If you say so." She quickly skimmed down the rest of the page, noticing something odd.

"Uh, Fluttershy, is Applejack the protagonist now?"

Fluttershy blinked and then shook her head. "No. Well, I mean, she's the protagonist for the prologue chapters, but you're still the main protagonist."

"Despite being dead?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"Like I said, you'll see," Fluttershy said, yawning.

"I think I'll read to myself this time, if you don't mind. You need to get some sleep."

Fluttershy nodded, her eyes already drooping closed.

Twilight glanced up to the top of the page, noting that Fluttershy had bothered to put the title in this time.

"The Challenge of Golden Wish."


	13. TIPS: Knocks' Decalogue

_Excerpt from A 'Treatise on Mysteries', by Roan A. Knocks. Additional commentary by Naor A. Knocks. _

I. It is forbidden for the culprit to be anyone not mentioned in the early part of the story. A mysterious stranger who is revealed at the last minute spoils the play altogether.

is forbidden for an excessive use of magic to employed as a detective technique. Magic is a powerful tool, and a unicorn detective has many more options at his disposal. But should magic be used to solve the crime entirely - for instance, a lie detecting spell that finds the culprit, or a monitoring spell which catches him red handed, you should stop and consider what kind of story you really want to tell.

III. It is forbidden for hidden passages to exist. Without the proper clues and foreshadowing indicating such a passage exists and having the detective discover them, it is no more than a cheap trick that removes the readers ability to reason.

IV. It is forbidden for unknown powers or hard to understand scientific devices to be used. Any hack can imagine an insane type of magical plant or potion that conjures up strange effects and impossible scenarios. A mystery should be solved by the powers of pony deduction, not the authors magical fantasy. Likewise, if the solution to your mystery requires a long science lecture at the end, throw it in the trash.

V: It is forbidden for griffons or other monsters to figure into the story. _** While this certainly seems inappropriate from a modern perspective, my father's view here should be considered in context . Tensions between Equestria and the Griffon Empire were high at the time, and many shoddy writers used cheap caricatures of Griffons, as well as various magical beasts as their culprit, denying the reader a true suspect._

VI. It is forbidden for accident or intuition to be employed as a detective technique. Clues should be found through genuine deduction and investigation. Your detective must not, for example, look for the lost will in the works of a grandfather clock because an unaccountable instinct tells him that it is the right place to search.

VII. It is forbidden for the detective to be the is the ultimate deception to pull on the reader, and why it is forbidden should be fairly obvious. This only counts for intentional crime. If, in the course of the mystery, the detective triggers an accident that leads to a murder, it is still forgivable.

VIII. It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not presented. Perhaps the simplest of all, yet the most important core to a good mystery. To solve the crime, present the clues. All clues must be foreshadowed earlier in the story.

IX. It is permitted for observers to let their own conclusions and interpretations be heard. Whether intentionally trying to deceive the detective, speculating on their own, or just plain misguided, any character is allowed to project their own interpretations on to the events of the story. It is the job of the detective and the reader to sift through all the information to decide what is reliable and what is merely a red herring.

X. It is forbidden for a character to disguise themselves as another without any clues. This is too easy of a dodge, and too much of a cliche to be taken seriously.


End file.
